Elon Musk spends big to back Hudson Valley Republicans

National observers are paying attention to the congressional races in New York – and recently, two of those races have caught the attention of erratic right-wing billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Through his super PAC America PAC, Musk has already spent big bucks in support of Donald Trump in swing states. But more recently, he has started investing in congressional races across the country to support vulnerable Republican incumbents. Those include the races of Rep. Mike Lawler and Marc Molinaro in the Hudson Valley, who are fending off challenges from former Rep. Mondaire Jones and Josh Riley, respectively. Out of the roughly dozen races the PAC is spending in so far, Musk spent the most in the 17th Congressional District, where Lawler is running, infusing nearly $485,000 to back the incumbent and attack Jones. The second-largest sum was in the 19th Congressional District, where Musk’s PAC spent over $300,000 to back Molinaro and oppose Riley. 

The Molinaro campaign welcomed the support from the Tesla billionaire. “Marc Molinaro and Elon Musk agree we need to control the border,” said campaign manager Matt Organ, who then accused Riley of fighting for “open borders.” A spokesperson for Lawler declined to comment about the new PAC spending. 

The Democrats were far less enthusiastic about Musk’s involvement in their races. “Marc Molinaro would give another big tax break to big corporations and billionaires, so it’s unsurprising to find out he’s cozying up to billionaire grifter Elon Musk,” said Riley campaign manager Daniel Fleiss. He then attacked Molinaro for his positions on reproductive health care and prescription drug costs and his support from utility companies.

Jones spokesperson Shannon Geison also condemned the influx of cash from America PAC into the race. “Extreme, right-wing billionaires like Elon Musk are exactly the type of people you would expect to support Mike Lawler,” said Geison, accusing Lawler of being anti-choice and supporting the Project 2025 agenda from the right-wing Heritage Foundation. (Lawler has said repeatedly that he would oppose a national abortion ban.) “NY-17 knows folks like Elon Musk aren’t working on their behalf, and they will vote Mike Lawler out this November.”