Major donors expand Republicans' lead in US election spending

Listen to the article. The audio text is automated, generated by an automated system

The Republican Party's financial superiority in the American electoral race is strengthened thanks to huge donations made by billionaires and major financiers, led by Elon Musk, who has pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into political committees supporting the Republicans, at a time when Democrats also rely on major donors and organizations that collect money and redistribute it to election campaigns.

Musk gave $158 million during the third quarter to the Senate Leadership Fund, a major political action committee supportive of Republicans, which quickly transferred the money to a new group it created to support Ken Paxton in the hot race for the Senate seat in Texas.

Musk also donated $10 million to another pro-Paxton political committee, Lone Star Liberty, during the third quarter, in addition to $20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, which is concerned with supporting Republican candidates in the House of Representatives elections.

Musk, who previously held a leadership position in the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), provided more than $88 million to the America PAC, which he initially founded to support President Donald Trump's campaign in the 2024 elections, before its activities expanded this year to include financing advertising and field campaigns for Republican candidates across the country.

This spending comes after the relationship between Musk and Trump witnessed disagreements at some points during the past year, before his relationship with the White House improved again.

Richard Oelen stands out as one of the major financiers of Republican political activities, as he was the main funder of the group “Restoration PAC”, which spent money in a number of election races around the country, and also provided funding for the group “Restore Sanity”, which focuses on the Minnesota governor’s race.

According to Federal Election Commission records, Oelen's total federal political donations during the current election cycle exceeded $130 million, while his wife, Elizabeth Oelen, also gave millions of dollars to various conservative groups.

Other top Republican funders include Timothy Mellon, who was the biggest donor to political campaigns after Musk in the 2024 elections, giving $20 million to the political committee supporting Republican House candidates during the third quarter.

On the other hand, the Democrats have a number of major donors, but the announced donations do not match the amount of funding provided by the most prominent Republican funders.

Two entities linked to prominent Democratic investor and donor George Soros gave $102 million earlier in the election cycle to his affiliated Democracy PAC, which in turn redistributed the money to a group of Democratic organizations.

Soros has also made other personal donations, in smaller amounts, to Democratic candidates and parties associated with the party.

The announced figures do not reflect the full extent of political funding, as they do not include money that passes through tax-exempt non-profit organizations, known as “dark money”, due to the difficulty of directly tracking their funding sources.

In the Democratic camp, the “Majority Forward” and “House Majority Forward” groups transferred a total of $163 million to two major political committees that support the party’s candidates for Congress, the “House Majority PAC” and the “Sennett Majority PAC.”

On the Republican side, the “American Action Network” and “One Nation” groups provided about $197 million combined to the “Congressional Leadership Fund” and “Senate Leadership Fund” committees, which represent their Democratic counterparts in supporting Republican candidates.

These numbers reveal the increasing role of private wealth and political financing networks in shaping the balance of American electoral spending, with both parties continuing to rely on super PACs and intermediary organizations to direct money toward the most competitive races.