Elon Musk wades into Maine’s Senate race

A Republican consulting firm working to reelect Susan Collins received the second largest share of spending from Elon Musk’s super PAC last month. 

America PAC has spent just over $170,000 in Maine’s U.S. Senate race, which Democrats view as a key pickup opportunity to gain control of the upper chamber. Overall, a Federal Election Commission disclosure released Wednesday showed the super PAC spent over $800,000 last month on races with Republican incumbents and candidates in competitive districts. 

“First of all, I wasn’t aware of that donation,” Collins told reporters in Brunswick on Thursday. “I knew he was going to get involved in political campaigns, but I had not heard that there was a specific donation.” 

The August disclosures reveal what are expected to be the first in a series of donations from Musk, the world’s richest person, who has reportedly authorized his super PAC to spend $100 million to $120 million to help elect Republicans in November, two unnamed sources told the New York Times this summer. 

Red Maverick Media LLC, the primary direct mail vendor for Collins based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, received four separate donations dedicated to Maine’s Senate race from America PAC in late August. 

Texas’ Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico received the most money from Musk’s PAC, around $248,000, followed by Ohio ($105,675), New Hampshire ($91,458.50), Iowa ($54,600), Michigan ($25,605) and Alaska ($17,235).

Speaking of Musk’s time leading the Department of Government Efficiency at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, Collins said on Thursday, “I don’t agree with him on everything, but I do agree with him that we need to eliminate waste and be much more efficient in government.”

On that note, Collins called the reports of fraud in Maine’s Medicaid system “absolutely unacceptable.” Vice President JD Vance and Mehmet Oz, administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, on separate visits to Maine have expressed similar concerns.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services has disputed claims that the agency is not cracking down on fraud, announcing earlier this month that it suspended payments to five providers and terminated two providers’ contracts for subjecting residents to serious health risks and unsafe conditions.