- Elon Musk dropped millions in Pennsylvania and settled in the state to deliver to Trump.
- His super PAC built a last-minute search effort and pioneered unproven 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 world’s richest man, took a frenetic and controversial gamble in the state’s largest movement 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 money channels and the chaos of day-to-day ground operations, the full scope of Musk’s efforts in the Keystone State is not yet clear. But they were essential.
On July 13, Musk publicized his support for Trump on X, posting a video of the former president after he survived an assassination attempt in Butler County, PA.
Musk created a war room of sorts in Pittsburgh and spent the final weeks of the race cheering across the state. He urged Pennsylvania voters to head to the polls in apocalyptic terms, telling them in late October that the 2024 election will determine “the fate of Western civilization.”
Musk spent more than $130 million on the election, most 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, PA. Beyond appearing near Trump, Musk organized his own events in Pennsylvania.
Between October 17 and October 20, he hosted four town halls in as many days across the state. On October 26, he hosted another town hall.
Musk attended a rally with Trump in Butler, PA. 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 well-liked figure in the state, particularly because he has built successful companies.
“And those things could play very well with the American economy,” Eddy said, noting that the issue was top of mind for many voters in his riding who ultimately voted for Trump.
Much of Musk’s work in Pennsylvania happened through the super PAC he created, America PAC.
Under new legal guidelines for 2024, these outside groups can coordinate directly with campaigns. The Trump campaign and America PAC signed a data-sharing agreement that allows them to jointly determine which voters to target. For the most part, America PAC spent its money on research and digital advertising.
According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission in late October, Musk poured just under $119 million into his PAC, including $43.6 million in the first two weeks of October alone. As of Oct. 16, he publicly disclosed that he had spent more than $130 million overall to help Trump and Republicans, though donations made after that date will not appear in public records until late November. It remains unknown how much Musk has given to “dark money” groups, which are nonprofits that don’t 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 effort.
In Musk’s mind, voter mobilization was key to winning Pennsylvania, and he was particularly focused on turning out low-propensity voters in rural areas, the New York Times reported. He even hired Chris Young, a Republican operative with extensive experience in field operations, to run his political spending.
Campaigns and outside groups typically spend months, if not years, building the architecture of voter mobilization. Some Democrats doubted America PAC’s efforts before Election Day.
“You have to find the people. You have to train the people. You have to design and print everything. You have to use the 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 I’m done.’
He added, “If late money was all you needed, that’s all anyone would do.”
America PAC devoted much of its money to grassroots voter mobilization efforts. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
But Charlie Gerow, a Republican strategist in Pennsylvania, told BI on Wednesday that Musk’s positive effort was definitely felt on the ground.
“Elon Musk started a residency here last week through 10 days of the campaign and was a big help in pushing President Trump over the finish line,” he said.
Republican leaders in three key Pennsylvania counties told Business Insider before the election that they were confident in America PAC’s get-out-the-vote efforts. Canvassers for America PAC knocked on about 2.3 million doors in Pennsylvania alone, the Times reported.
On Wednesday, Eddy said that while it’s hard to give credit to just one person, Musk has “obviously” had an impact on improving Trump’s search efforts.
Patricia Poprik, the chairwoman of the Bucks County Republican Committee, said Republicans in the state were thrilled to have the mogul on their side. “People are enjoying it and they like to see it,” she said two days before the election.
Other Republican officials BI spoke with Poprik.
“It’s been kind of surreal, to be honest,” said Christian Nascimento, chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Committee. “He’s just this unique figure.”
America PAC used unconventional, unproven get-out-the-vote efforts.
America PAC didn’t just rely on traditional door-knocking—it also turned to new methods, including some that put the group in legal jeopardy. The PAC offered registered voters in Pennsylvania $100 to sign a petition in support of the First and Second Amendments and another $100 to refer another signer. Registered voters in other swing states can earn $47 per referral.
At a PAC of America event in Harrisburg, PA on Oct. 19, Musk announced that he would give $1 million each day through Nov. 5 to a state voter who signed the petition. The first winner, John Dreher, came from Pennsylvania.
Musk’s petition has raised legal questions in Pennsylvania and nationally. Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Democrats and legal scholars were quick to question whether the move violated election law. The Justice Department sent Musk a warning letter, and the Philadelphia District Attorney filed a civil suit, calling the petition an “illegal sweepstakes.”
Donald Green, a professor at Columbia University who studies grassroots efforts, told BI that Musk’s project could usher in a “new era” of pumping money into campaigns.
“It certainly opens the door to doing things that don’t pay people to vote, but certainly pay people to do things that are up to the vote,” he told BI the day after the election.
As of Oct. 29, America PAC had sent more than 87,000 checks to people who referred petition signers, according to a post from the organization on X.
Green told BI that the petition was likely more useful for the quiet data it collected, which was shared with the Trump campaign under new federal election rules.
“If the take-home message from this campaign is that these kinds of last-minute slate operations are effective, you can expect to see more of them,” Green said ahead of the election. “I’d say the magic isn’t the petition itself, but the creation of the list that flows from it.”
Musk’s work in Pennsylvania reverberated across state lines.
Musk’s big last-minute effort in Pennsylvania had stakes beyond his wallet. Now that Trump has won the White House, thanks in part to the state’s 19 Electoral College votes, Musk will amass even more power. of the president-elect offered to put him in charge of a “Government Efficiency Commission” that oversees the very agencies that regulate Musk’s many businesses.
“If he loses, I’m screwed,” Musk said on a podcast in early October.
Lucky for Musk, he and Trump came out on top — in Pennsylvania and pretty much everywhere else.