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Elon Musk spends millions on Republican candidates in key NY, NJ races
By
Jon Campbell
Published Nov 4, 2024
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By
Jon Campbell
Published Nov 4, 2024
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A super PAC funded by billionaire Elon Musk is pumping millions of last-minute dollars into a door-knocking effort on both sides of the Hudson River in an attempt to keep the House of Representatives in Republican hands.
In the last month alone, Musk’s America PAC has put more than $1 million each behind GOP candidates in two of the tristate area’s most-competitive races: Reps. Mike Lawler of New York’s Hudson Valley and Tom Kean of New Jersey.
The PAC put another $900,000 behind Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro, a first-term representative fighting to hang onto a sprawling New York swing district stretching from the Catskills to Ithaca.
It’s all part of America PAC’s massive nationwide canvassing campaign, which has paid for thousands of hourly workers making upward of $30 an hour to knock on doors and encourage voters to support former President Donald Trump and other Republicans.
That effort — which has cost $169 million so far and has been funded mostly by Musk himself — has largely focused on the presidential race in swing states. But Musk’s PAC has put about $20 million of the total toward 15 tight congressional races, including the two in New York and one in New Jersey, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Representatives for the PAC couldn’t be reached for comment. New York’s Republican Party has openly touted the involvement of the Tesla and SpaceX owner, buoyed by an FEC advisory opinion from March that opened the door to outside groups collaborating with federal candidates and political parties on certain canvassing efforts.
America PAC’s work “is proving invaluable and we are thrilled to be partnering with Mr. Musk and his team to defend our majority-making U.S. House delegation to ensure that President Trump returns to Washington with Republican majorities in Congress,” said David Laska, a spokesperson for the New York state GOP.
In total, Musk’s PAC has spent more than $4.5 million on the three races that could be crucial in determining whether Democrats or Republicans take control of the House in January. The bulk of that money — more than $2.7 million — has gone toward the door-to-door canvassing effort. A chunk of the money has also gone toward digital advertising.
So far, America PAC has spent $1.7 million total on Lawler’s race against former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones in a district that includes all of Rockland and Putnam counties and part of Westchester and Dutchess counties. It's the most the PAC has spent on any one district in the country.
The PAC has spent slightly less in Kean's and Molinaro’s districts — $1.5 million and $1.2 million, respectively. Kean is facing a challenge from Democrat Sue Altman, while Molinaro is locked in a rematch with Democratic attorney Josh Riley.
Molinaro's and Lawler’s campaigns declined to discuss America PAC’s work, instead pointing to their own canvassing efforts. Both candidates claimed their teams knocked on 250,000 doors each within their respective districts.
Democrats pounced on America PAC’s spending in New York, relishing the chance to tie the Republican candidates to the richest person in the world.
“Mike Lawler and Marc Molinaro relying on a right-wing billionaire who has dangerously peddled antisemitism at every turn tells you everything you need to know: Lawler['s] and Molinaro’s loyalties are to extremists, not New York families,” said Ellie Dougherty, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, referencing some of Musk’s posts on X, the social media platform he owns.
America PAC’s canvassing strategy has faced criticism — and at least two class-action lawsuits — in other states.
In California, workers filed suit against the PAC in a dispute over wages, while workers in Michigan claim they were threatened and transported in the back of a U-Haul truck without seats, according to Wired. In Pennsylvania, Philadelphia’s district attorney is alleging the PAC’s controversial promise to award $1 million a day to swing-state voters violates the law.
Democrats, on the other hand, have their own sophisticated door-knocking program. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul raised more than $5 million to help fund 37 field offices staffed with 93 employees and 200 “youth fellows” on college campuses to reach voters in a handful of key swing districts across the state.
An outside group, Battleground New York, has spent more than $6 million so far focused on mailers, phone banks and door-to-door canvassing to elect Democrats. The organization, funded in part by labor unions, says it has 274 canvassers in four key districts across the state, including Molinaro’s and Lawler’s.
In a memo this week summarizing its work this election cycle, Battleground New York said its strategy has been focused on engaging voters in person — knowing that other outside PACs would be spending big on ads blanketing the airwaves.
The group views itself as “New York’s first true statewide voter engagement” effort, “like those that have become a staple in other battleground states,” according to the memo.
Tagged
new york state
hudson valley
billionaires
new jersey
Politics
elon musk
Mondaire Jones
Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
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