WASHINGTON — Elon Musk, a year after voicing deep frustration with the Republican Party and threatening to start a third party, appears to be back in the fold and prepared to spend big in the midterms to help GOP candidates.

Musk, the world’s richest person, has authorized his super political action committee to spend $100 million to $120 million on a new field program in at least eight states to help elect Republicans in November, according to two people briefed on the plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private deliberations.

The planned injection of cash from Musk, the biggest donor in the 2024 presidential election, would only add to Republicans’ yawning advantage over Democrats in funding from super PACs and party groups. While Democratic candidates in key Senate races are raising more than their Republican rivals, many in the Democratic Party have begun to worry about being badly outspent overall in the midterms.

Officials from Musk’s super PAC, America PAC, have communicated their nine-figure budget to other Republicans in recent weeks as part of an aggressive spending plan that is set to begin next month, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The precise amounts could change, but Musk’s financial commitment is seen as secure enough that officials at his super PAC have relayed its budget to groups like MAGA Inc., President Donald Trump’s super PAC — which also has yet to reveal its midterm spending plan.

Musk’s group plans to initially target Senate races in at least five states — Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Michigan and Ohio — and is having conversations about the contests in North Carolina, Georgia and Texas, according to two people with knowledge of the super PAC’s plans.

The super PAC is also planning to spend in House races in states including California, Wisconsin and Washington, according to two people with knowledge of the plans.

America PAC said in a statement that it would be “active in battleground Senate and House races — both offensive and defensive.” The group declined to comment on its budget and targeted states but said its effort would be “a historic ‘get out the vote’ operation for the 2026 midterms.” Some of its high-level plans were earlier reported by Axios.

Musk’s super PAC is closely coordinating with an ecosystem of outside groups that are preparing field campaigns, including Americans for Prosperity, which is part of the billionaire Koch brothers’ political network, and the Sentinel Action Fund, another conservative organization. Republican outside groups are planning to pool their field operations more than ever after a Supreme Court ruling in late June made it cheaper for party committees to work directly with candidates.

To help its efforts, America PAC is lining up firms that focus on knocking on voters’ doors, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Chris Young, who is Musk’s top political adviser and oversaw the group’s huge spending in the 2024 election, is in charge again.

Musk spent close to $300 million on the 2024 campaign, hosting town halls that drew on his celebrity to try to help Trump. But Musk is not currently expected to play as front-facing a role as he did during the 2024 presidential race or during a major court election in April 2025 in Wisconsin, where his candidate lost.

After the defeat in Wisconsin, Musk appeared aware that his public presence in the race had backfired, The New York Times reported last year.

“In terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” he told Bloomberg News in May 2025. “I think I’ve done enough.”

A few months later, Musk had a spectacular falling out with Trump. He left his role overseeing the president’s government-gutting initiative, known as DOGE, and immediately began bashing Trump’s major domestic policy bill and the Republican Party in general.

That summer, Musk threatened to start a third party, which made some of his advisers who are aligned with the Republican Party skittish. But he made no moves to start what he said would be called the America Party. By last fall, he had largely made up with Trump, and advisers began sketching out plans to help Republicans again.

Then again, Musk’s interest in and commentary about politics can seem erratic. In an interview with The Economist published last week, he said of his involvement in Trump’s administration, “I think I got a little too involved in politics. I got carried away, frankly.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Theodore Schleifer/Jim Vondruska
c. 2026 The New York Times Company