Elon Musk channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Texas PAC he primarily funds to try to unseat a Texas prosecutor earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with his involvement, as well as Federal Communications Commission filings and corporate documents.
The Tesla CEO used Save Austin Now, a self-described “nonpartisan citizen’s group dedicated to Austin’s quality of life,” to oppose José Garza in the Democratic primary race for Travis County district attorney in March, per the outlet.
The PAC attacked Garza with texts, TV advertising costing over $650,000, and flyers, some of which featured a bloodstained teddy with the message “José Garza is filling Austin’s streets with pedophiles & killers. The next victim could be your loved one,” the outlet reported.
The PAC also accused Garza of “radical ideology” and said he was “letting violent criminals out of jail in Austin.”
Despite his opponent far outraising him in the run-up to the primary, Garza won, and is now favored to beat Republican Daniel Betts in Democratic-leaning Travis County in November, per Axios.
This is not the first time Musk has used PACs and his own money to try to defeat political candidates or help others win.
In July, The Journal reported that Musk was planning to donate $45 million each month to America PAC, which is working to reelect former President Donald Trump.
Musk has denied the claim.
That same month, sources told Bloomberg that Musk had donated an undisclosed amount of money to America PAC.
And last month, the Journal reported that Musk had been convening hourlong weekly meetings with consultants and vendors from America PAC, to figure out how to boost voter turnout for Trump in swing states.
Musk is among the 30 wealthiest donors funneling money to Trump through PACs, as BI previously reported.
Since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, super PACs have been free to donate as much as they want to assist the campaigns of their choice, provided that they do not work directly with them.
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