Talarico accuses Musk of buying his ‘own personal U.S. Senator’

Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico hit back at Elon Musk, accusing the technology mogul of trying to “buy his own personal” senator through massive campaign donations for Talarico’s opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).

“There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal U.S. Senator,” Talarico wrote Wednesday on social platform X , the social media platform owned by Musk.

Talarico was responding to a recent post from Musk, who suggested “there is something deeply wrong” with the Democratic nominee. Musk formally endorsed Paxton earlier this week after campaign finance records indicated the SpaceX CEO spent more than $150 million on his candidacy.

“The fate of Texas and America is at stake. Vote for @KenPaxtonTX today,” Musk wrote Tuesday.

Federal election filings released last week showed Musk was the single donor to Texas PAC — a political action committee backing Paxton’s run — in the third quarter. Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, which transferred the funds to Texas PAC shortly after.

Paxton and Talarico are in a dead heat, according to a new poll from Emerson College Polling and The Hill, which showed Talarico with 48 percent support and Paxton with 46 percent.

Musk has various ties to Texas, managing several business ventures in the Lone Star State.

Starbase, the SpaceX industrial complex, is located in Texas and became an incorporated city last year. Musk’s tunnel company, The Boring Company, is based in San Antonio, and he is also developing a semiconductor and AI compute facility in Grimes County, Texas.

Despite previously saying he would pull back his political involvement, Musk is the biggest known donor of the 2026 midterms.