Democrats rake in cash, Musk takes center stage for GOP: 5 takeaways from latest fundraising hauls

Democrats running in competitive Senate races are raking in cash as they race to close the financial gap with Republicans , who have been buoyed in part by Elon Musk and his super PAC.

Democrat James Talarico’s campaign for Texas Senate alone raised a staggering $60 million between July, August and September, while Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) brought in $33 million and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed raked in close to $31 million in the Michigan Senate contest —dwarfing their GOP counterparts.

But Musk, the tech billionaire and former Trump adviser, has served as a bright spot for Republicans, with his super PAC effectively bankrolling Texas Senate GOP candidate Ken Paxton’s campaign.

This investment has made the fierce contest one of the most expensive Senate races in history — with more than $500 million spent or reserved in advertising in total between the two parties, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact . The firm is also forecasting that the 2026 election could be the most expensive midterm cycle ever .

Here are five takeaways from the last quarterly filing before Election Day:

Democrats post blockbuster numbers in Senate races

It’s not just Talarico, Ossoff and El-Sayed who are outraising their Republican counterparts in key races.

Battleground Senate Democratic candidates have outraised their opponents: former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown’s campaign raised $23 million , Maine’s Troy Jackson collected more than $20 million , former Rep. Mary Peltola (Alaska) posted $14 million , and former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s campaign raked in $12.2 million .

Meanwhile, Paxton’s campaign raised more than $10 million ; Michigan Republican Mike Rogers, a former House lawmaker, posted $9.7 million ; Sen. Jon Husted (R) raised close to $5 million in Ohio ; Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R) reported $5.2 million ; Georgia’s Republican candidate Rep. Mike Collins posted $2.8 million ; former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, who is running against Cooper, reported $2.1 million ; and Sen. Dan Sullivan’s (R) campaign raised $2 million in Alaska.

Adam Hamilton, a pastor running as a Democrat for Senate in Kansas, even raised more than Sen. Roger Marshall (R). The Democrat’s campaign brought in more than $9 million while Marshall’s campaign reported just more than $800,000 .

That doesn’t mean Republicans aren’t making those numbers up elsewhere — those figures don’t account for joint fundraising accounts, super PAC spending to benefit or oppose candidates, or their general financial advantage at the party level.

Still, the higher campaign fundraising gives Democrats more bang for their buck with ad buys. Senate Democratic candidates also outraised their GOP peers last quarter.

Musk dives back into political fray to boost GOP

Musk and his super PAC, America PAC, have become key assets for Republicans this cycle as the GOP looks to keep parity with Democrats on fundraising. Musk donated $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) PAC, which is associated with Senate GOP leadership.

The contributions, $75 million and $83 million, were each made to the super PAC. A day after SLF PAC received those contributions, they were immediately transferred to Texas PAC , which is a Senate GOP leadership-aligned group backing Paxton.

Texas PAC’s quarterly report shows that Musk financed the group entirely.

America PAC has also been very active this cycle, spending more than $76 million this quarter in various battleground Senate and House races. These include contests for Senate in Michigan, Texas and Alaska as well as House races in battlegrounds such as Arizona’s 1st District and New York’s 17th District.

Wintour, Bush, Blinken among big names donating

Musk isn’t the only big name spending big in the lead-up to the election.

Anna Wintour, Condé Nast’s chief content officer and global editorial director of Vogue, donated $5,000 to Talarico’s joint fundraising committee. Several members of the Soros family — Robert, Catherine and Jamie — gave a combined $15,000 to the same group.

Stephen Jones, co-owner and CEO of the Dallas Cowboys, gave $122,000 to Paxton’s joint fundraising committee , Paxton Victory, while the group received a separate $100,000 from Jerry Jones, the franchise’s president and owner. Major Texas GOP donor Farris Wilks gave $250,000 to his joint fundraising committee in addition to Texas businessman Alex Fairly, who gave more than $270,000.

Four top SpaceX employees also gave more than $33,000 combined to another joint fundraising committee for Paxton, Team Paxton.

Former President George W. Bush gave Collins $3,500 for her campaign , and longtime GOP strategist Karl Rove gave her campaign $1,500 . Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave $1,750 to Ossoff’s campaign. Seven Anthropic employees gave more than $24,000 combined to Ossoff as well.

While some super PACs and other political groups have not yet filed — groups that report monthly will file later this month while those that file biyearly will only file again next January — the 2026 spending picture is coming into focus.

Anthropic’s political action committee spent more than $250,000 between July and September, including $161,000 last month alone, according to figures first shared with The Hill. The group had a nearly even spending split between Republicans and Democrats.

The political group gave money to the campaign arms for Senate Republicans and Democrats in addition to a handful of senators and House members on both sides.

More recently, Think Big and American Mission , both super PACs aligned with the pro-AI Leading the Future group, have spent money in a handful of House races.

Meanwhile, United Democracy Project, the super PAC of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has so far spent shy of $190,000 opposing El-Sayed in the general election.

MAHA PAC wades into Iowa governor’s race

Allies of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement are investing in the Iowa gubernatorial race to support Republican Zach Lahn. MAHA PAC and MAHA Action PAC announced Thursday that they would be spending more than $1.65 million to support Lahn as he battles against Democrat Rob Sand for the Iowa governor’s seat.

MAHA PAC is spending $150,000 of that money on get-out-the-vote field operations, while $1.5 million is being donated directly to Lahn’s campaign by MAHA Action PAC. MAHA PAC endorsed the candidate last year.

MAHA PAC is investing in half a dozen House races, too.

Statewide races typically follow different campaign finance reporting deadlines as they vary from state to state.

Lahn has leaned into issues aligned with the MAHA movement, particularly his focus on tackling cancer, as the Hawkeye State has one of the highest rates of new cancer in the U.S.