Washington, Oct 30: Elon Musk has given $446 million to influence the 2026 US midterm elections, the most by any donor in modern American history, as the 50 biggest contributors pour about $2.8 billion into the race, according to a Washington Post tracker based on Federal Election Commission (FEC) data.

The Brennan Center for Justice puts Musk’s giving at $483 million when contributions from his company, United States of America Inc., are included, and says it is more than any donor has given in any election cycle. All figures are rounded. FEC figures are self-reported by committees and can be amended.

Most of Musk’s money went to America Political Action Commitee (PAC), his own super PAC (about $216 million), the Senate Leadership Fund ($168 million) and the Congressional Leadership Fund ($30 million), the Post said. Behind Musk among individual donors are Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein ($150 million), Jeff and Janine Yass ($110 million), George Soros ($102 million), Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen ($92 million) and Mike Bloomberg ($84 million). Completing the top 10 individual donors are Miriam Adelson ($68 million), Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss ($56 million), Paul Singer ($54 million) and OpenAI president Greg Brockman and his wife Anna ($50 million).

Republican-leaning donors among the top 50 gave about $1.7 billion, about 60 per cent, against about $830 million, or 30 per cent, from Democratic-leaning donors, according to the Post and Al Jazeera. The Brennan Center found that the top 40 donors gave $2.4 billion through mid-October, eight times what the top 40 gave at the same point in 2014, after adjusting for inflation. “In 2014, the top 40 favoured Democrats two to one,” the Brennan Center said.

Donors loyal to the GOP “now give more than three times the amount that reliably Democratic donors give.” The top 100 donors supplied 64 per cent of all outside-group money, according to OpenSecrets. The Senate Leadership Fund has raised about $546 million and MAGA Inc. about $449 million through October 14, against about $342 million for the Republican National Committee, FEC filings show.

The industry mix has also shifted. Crypto interests gave $304 million within the top 40, while labour “has disappeared from the top 40 entirely”, the Brennan Center said. Dark money groups make up 29 per cent of top-40 giving, up from 17 per cent in 2014, it said. Spending on political advertising is projected to reach about $12 billion ($11.6 billion), more than any previous cycle including the 2024 presidential race, Al Jazeera reported, citing ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Al Jazeera quoted Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig as saying: “The problem isn’t the spending. The problem is the concentration of donors.” The midterms are on November 3.

IANS