WASHINGTON — Tech mogul Elon Musk is throwing his weight behind Senate Republican challenger Nate Morris with a $10 million donation within the hotly contested race to exchange retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), The Submit has discovered.
The decamillion-dollar increase was made final week to a Morris-backing tremendous PAC, sources mentioned, and marks the biggest contribution from the SpaceX CEO to a candidate for federal workplace apart from President Trump.
Axios first reported the donation to Struggle for Kentucky, which recorded simply $49,606.75 money readily available as of its most up-to-date Federal Election Fee submitting July 31.
Morris, who based the waste and recycling agency Rubicon and later offered it for $2 billion, is competing towards Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) and former commonwealth Legal professional Basic Daniel Cameron to fill the emptiness left by McConnell, the longest-serving chief of both occasion in Senate historical past.
A supply conversant in Musk’s donation mentioned the Tesla founder spoke with Morris just lately and “got here away impressed with the candidates enterprise background and anti-establishment, anti-Mitch McConnell message.”
Morris, 45, has leaned closely into “anti-McConnell” messaging, highlighting in an early advert how the Kentucky senator “trashed Trump” — particularly after the forty fifth president referred to as the 2020 election “stolen” — and claiming that Cameron and Barr have been “puppets” of the ex-Republican chief.
Barr, 52, raised additional cash than Morris within the final six months of 2025, with the lawmaker boasting a greater than $6.42 million marketing campaign warfare chest as of Dec. 31, based on fundraising figures reported by The Submit final week.
Morris — whose marketing campaign till now had been largely self-funded — touted $1.5 million money readily available.
“The more cash Nate Morris spends, the extra Kentuckians get to see him and the more severe he does,” Blake Gober, Barr’s marketing campaign supervisor, mentioned in a press release. “Nate Morris spending cash made this a two man race between Andy Barr and Daniel Cameron.
“Nate Morris spending more cash will cement it that method.”
The supply added that Morris intends to proceed loaning cash to his marketing campaign by way of the Could 19 Republican main.
This previous Could, Musk informed attendees on the Qatar Financial Discussion board shortly earlier than his authorities service ended and shut relationship with Trump imploded: “By way of political spending, I’m going to do lots much less sooner or later.”
That relationship has since been repaired, and Musk hasn’t shied away from advocating for the GOP within the midterms this 12 months.
“America is toast if the novel left wins,” the billionaire wrote on his social media platform X, responding to a tweet that claimed Musk was “reportedly going all-in funding Republicans to assist President Trump take again full management within the November midterms.”
“They’ll open the floodgates to unlawful immigration and fraud,” Musk added. “Gained’t be America anymore.”
To date this cycle, the previous Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) chief has contributed $45 million to his personal America PAC, which backed Trump’s candidacy and Republicans with greater than $200 million in donations in 2024.
Musk has additionally donated $10 million this cycle to PACs supporting the GOP’s majorities within the Home and Senate, respectively, in addition to $5 million to Make America Nice Once more, Inc., one of many high Trump-supporting PACs.
The one ballot of the Senate Kentucky race up to now was carried out by Democrat-affiliated group Public Coverage Polling, and confirmed Democratic former state legislator Charles Booker out in entrance of his personal main, however shedding to all three Republicans within the common election.
“Nate Morris and his never-Trump allies have already spent $6 million on TV, and he’s caught in a distant third and statistically tied with a DEMOCRAT in a Kentucky common election ballot,” Gober went on.
“It’s as a result of Kentuckians are studying the reality about Nate: he supported Nikki Haley over President Trump, his enterprise was de-listed from the NYSE after one 12 months as a result of it was a catastrophe, and he was a DEI-promoting CEO.”
Barr has earned endorsements from Trump allies like Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and former White Home doctor and present Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas).
Morris has the backing of Sens. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) in addition to ex-Trump strategist Steve Bannon and the late conservative activist and Turning Level USA co-founder Charlie Kirk.
Trump has not made an endorsement within the GOP main.
Reps for Cameron’s marketing campaign didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
