- Elon Musk has dropped millions in Pennsylvania and camped out in the state to help deliver it to Trump.
- His political action committee built last-minute vote-counting efforts and drove untested ground game techniques.
- Musk’s sprawling and risky moves could usher in a “new era” in campaign spending, a source told BI.
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, embarked on a frantic and controversial adventure in the largest swing state in the 2024 race, and it paid off. President-elect Donald Trump won Pennsylvania, and with it four more years in the White House.
Between the murky financial channels and the chaos of day-to-day onshore operations, the full scope of Musk’s efforts in the Keystone State is not yet clear. But it was great.
On July 13, Musk announced his message support trump on x, He posted a video clip of the former president after surviving an assassination attempt in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
Musk set up a war room of sorts in Pittsburgh, and spent the final weeks of the race traveling across the state. He urged Pennsylvania voters in apocalyptic terms to go to the polls, telling them in late October that the 2024 election would determine “the fate of Western civilization.”
Musk spent more than $130 million on the election, much of it late in the game
Musk’s tour de force in the Keystone State began on October 5, when he attended his first campaign rally alongside Trump in Butler. In addition to appearing with Trump, Musk has hosted his own events in Pennsylvania.
Between October 17 and October 20, he hosted four town halls on as many days across the state and hosted another on October 26.
It’s too early to know what impact Musk ultimately has in Pennsylvania. While the state flipped in favor of Trump, so did other key states such as Wisconsin and Michigan, where Musk did not campaign. But political operatives on the ground in Pennsylvania said Musk’s presence certainly helped.
Musk attended a rally with Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Tom Eddy, chairman of the Erie County Republican Committee, told BI the day after the election that Musk is a beloved figure in the state, especially because he has created successful companies.
“And these things could very well impact the American economy,” Eddy said, noting that the issue was top of mind for many voters in his swing district, which ultimately broke with Trump.
Much of Musk’s work in Pennsylvania has been done through a new super PAC called America PAC.
Thanks to a Federal Election Commission report released this year, outside groups like political action committees can coordinate directly with campaigns on specific efforts. The Trump campaign and the US political action committee signed a data-sharing agreement, allowing them to jointly determine which voters to target. America PAC spent most of its money on canvassing and digital advertising.
Documents filed with the Federal Election Commission in late October showed that Musk transferred just under $119 million to his political action committee, including $43.6 million in the first two weeks of October. As of October 16, he had publicly disclosed spending more than $130 million overall to aid Trump and Republicans, though donations made after that date would not appear in public filings until late November. It is still unknown how much Musk has given to “dark money” groups, which are nonprofit organizations that do not disclose their donors.
Musk, the Trump campaign, and the Harris campaign did not respond to requests for comment for this article.
The ground game was key to Musk’s efforts.
The New York Times reported that Musk believed voter mobilization was key to winning Pennsylvania, and was particularly focused on attracting low-propensity voters in rural areas. He even appointed Chris Young, a Republican operative with extensive experience in field operations, to direct his political spending.
Campaigns and outside groups typically spend months, if not years, building the structure of voter mobilization operations. Before Election Day, some Democrats expressed doubt that the US PAC’s efforts would succeed.
“You have to find people. You have to train people. You have to design and print everything. You have to use data,” Daniel Fee, a Democratic strategist in Pennsylvania, told Business Insider before the election. “The field is not like, ‘I knocked on your door and now you’re done.’”
“If late money is all you need, that’s all anyone will do,” he added.
The US PAC has devoted much of its money to on-the-ground voter mobilization efforts. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
But Charlie Gero, a Republican strategist in Pennsylvania, told BI on Wednesday that Musk’s efforts were undoubtedly being felt on the ground, though he believes Trump might have won the state without the Tesla CEO.
“Elon Musk took up residence here last week for 10 days of the campaign and was a huge help in getting President Trump over the finish line,” Gero said.
Republican leaders in three major Pennsylvania counties told Business Insider before the election that they were confident in the PAC’s efforts to get out the vote. The Volunteers for America PAC knocked on about 2.3 million doors in Pennsylvania alone, the Times reported.
Eddy said on Wednesday that while it’s difficult to credit just one person, Musk “obviously” had an influence on Trump’s canvassing efforts.
Patricia Bobrick, chairwoman of the Bucks County Republican Committee, said Republicans in the state are happy to have the business mogul on their side. “People enjoy it, they like to see it,” Bobrick said two days before the election.
Other Republican officials BI spoke to agreed.
“Honestly, it was kind of surreal,” said Christian Nascimento, chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Committee. “He’s just this unique character.”
American political action committees used unconventional and untested efforts to gain the right to vote
The US PAC has not only relied on traditional door-knocking, but has also turned to new methods, including some that have landed the group in legal jeopardy. The political action committee offered registered voters in Pennsylvania $100 to sign a petition in support of the First and Second Amendments, and another $100 to refer another site. Registered voters in other swing states can earn $47 per referral.
At an America PAC event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on October 19, Musk announced that he would give $1 million every day through November 5 to a voter in the swing state who signed the petition. The first winner, John Dreher, hails from Pennsylvania.
Some have questioned the legitimacy of Musk’s petition-signing rewards. Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Democrats and legal scholars were quick to question whether the move violated election law. The Department of Justice sent Musk a warning letter and the Philadelphia District Attorney filed a civil suit, calling the petition an “illegal lottery.”
Donald Green, a Columbia University professor who studies the field effort, told BI that Musk’s project could usher in a “new era” of campaign spending.
“It certainly opens the door to doing things that don’t pay people to vote, but certainly pay people to do things that come close to voting,” he told BI the day after the election.
As of October 29, the US PAC had mailed more than 87,000 checks to people who referred petition signers, the organization said in a statement. Share on X.
Green told BI that the petition may have been most useful for the soft data it collected, which it could then share with the Trump campaign.
“If the message from this campaign is that this kind of last-minute list-building is effective, then you can expect to see a lot more of it,” Green said before the election. “I would say that the magic is not the petition itself, but the list construction that follows it.”
Musk’s work in Pennsylvania has resonated beyond the state’s borders
The risks of Musk’s last-minute sprawling effort in Pennsylvania extend far beyond Beyond his wallet. Now that Trump has won the White House, thanks in part to the state’s 19 Electoral College votes, Musk will have even more power. the The president-elect has offered to put him in charge of the Government Efficiency Commission, which could oversee the same agencies that regulate Musk’s business.
“If he loses, I lose,” Musk said in a podcast in early October.
Fortunately for Musk, he… Trump came out on top — in Pennsylvania and almost everywhere else.