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Elon Musk gave $1 million last month to a powerful tort reform group that is one of the main political forces backing Republicans in battleground legislative races this fall, marking the tech mogul’s deepest foray yet into Texas politics.
Musk, the billionaire chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla, has emerged recently as a key player in national politics, launching a PAC to support Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and leveraging his social media site, X, to elevate the former president. But Musk’s seven-figure donation to Texans for Lawsuit Reform — one of Texas’ most influential business groups and a central figure in the state’s internecine GOP power struggle — is the first major sign that he is willing to throw his weight around in state politics.
The donation, revealed in campaign finance filings due this week, comes as Musk is deepening his ties to Texas, most notably with his announcement this summer that he would move the headquarters of X and SpaceX from California to Texas. SpaceX already has a presence in the state with a rocket launch facility near Brownsville. Additionally, Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, has been headquartered since 2021 in Austin, where Musk has also filed paperwork through one of his charities to start a new university.
Musk’s donation to Texans for Lawsuit Reform is especially notable because of the group’s poor standing among some of Trump’s key allies in Texas. Known as TLR, the group was once widely heralded on the right for helping Republicans win control of Texas. TLR reshaped Texas’ civil justice system by making it harder to sue businesses, a key priority of business leaders in the 1990s and 2000s, and has continued to pass tort reform legislation in the years since.
But the group has been recently vilified by Attorney General Ken Paxton and his hardline allies, who believe TLR worked behind the scenes to orchestrate his impeachment last year. Paxton and others from the party’s rightmost flank have bashed the group for supporting Republican Speaker Dade Phelan and his lieutenants, amid their effort to depose Phelan for backing Paxton’s impeachment and allegedly ceding too much power to Democrats.
TLR insists it had nothing to do with Paxton’s impeachment and has said it supports candidates based on whether they are “philosophically aligned on civil justice issues.”
Paxton and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Phelan’s biggest political rivals, are close allies with Trump. Patrick has chaired all three of Trump’s presidential campaigns in Texas, and Paxton unsuccessfully challenged Trump’s 2020 election loss in four battleground states in a lawsuit that relied on discredited claims of election fraud.
TLR reported donations to several Democratic lawmakers since the start of July, as it has routinely done before, though the vast majority of its money continued to flow to Republicans in contested legislative races.
Musk’s $1 million donation accounted for more than one third of TLR’s $2.9 million haul from July 1 through late September. Miriam Adelson, the owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino empire and a major GOP donor, kicked in $500,000. TLR reported nearly $34 million cash on hand at the end of the reporting period.
In August, TLR promoted Musk’s move to incorporate Tesla in Texas — shifting from its location in Delaware — as a sign that Texas’ newly created business court system marked “a bold move to compete with Delaware as a top destination for business incorporation.”
TLR was a leading promoter of the court system, which the Legislature established last year to hear cases involving large business transactions. Judges are appointed by the governor.
Earlier this year, Musk secretly put hundreds of thousands of dollars into a group that tried unsuccessfully to oust Travis County District Attorney José Garza in the Democratic primary, The Wall Street Journal reported. Musk was the main funder behind the group, Saving Austin, which spent more than $650,000 on ads blasting Garza’s progressive policies, according to the Journal. Musk has been an outspoken critic of progressive prosecutors backed by billionaire Democratic donor George Soros, who has supported Garza and other prosecutors campaigning on overhauling the criminal justice system.
Voting FAQ: 2024 Elections
When is the next election? What dates do I need to know?
Election Day for the general election is November 5, and early voting will run from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1. The deadline to register to vote and/or change your voter registration address is Oct. 7. Applications to vote by mail must be received by your county of residence – not postmarked – by Oct. 25.
What’s on the ballot for the general election?
In addition to the president, eligible Texans have the opportunity to cast their ballots for many Texas officials running for office at the federal, state and local levels.
This includes representatives in the U.S. and Texas houses and the following elected offices:
-1 U.S Senator (Ted Cruz)
– 1 of 3 Railroad Commissioners
– 15 State Senators
– 7 State Board of Education members
– 3 members of the Texas Supreme Court
– 3 members of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
– 5 Chief Justices and various justices for Texas Courts of Appeals
Lower-level judges and local county offices will also appear on the ballot:
– Various district judges, including on criminal and family courts
– County Courts at Law
– Justices of the Peace
– District Attorneys
– County Attorneys
– Sheriffs
– Constables
– Tax Assessor-Collectors
How do I make sure I’m registered to vote?
You can check to see if you’re registered and verify your information through the Texas Secretary of State’s website. You’ll need one of the following three combinations to log in: Your Texas driver’s license number and date of birth. Your first and last names, date of birth and county you reside in. Your date of birth and Voter Unique Identifier, which appears on your voter registration certificate.
What if I missed the voter registration deadline?
You must be registered to vote in a Texas county by Oct. 7 to vote in the Nov. 5 presidential election. You can still register for other elections.
If you’re registered but didn’t update your address by the deadline, you may still be able to vote at your previous voting location or on a limited ballot. (Voters are typically assigned precincts based on where they live. In most major counties, voters can vote anywhere on Election Day, but some counties require you vote within your precinct. If that is the case, you may have to return to your previous precinct. See which counties allow countywide Election Day voting here. You can usually find your precinct listed on your voter registration certificate or on when checking your registration online.)
If you moved from one county to another, you may be able to vote on a ballot limited to the elections you would qualify to vote in at both locations, such as statewide races. However, limited ballots are only available during early voting. Find your county election official here and contact them to ask about or request a limited ballot.
What can I do if I have questions about voting?
You can contact your county elections official or call the Texas Secretary of State’s helpline at 1-800-252-VOTE (8683). A coalition of voting rights groups is also helping voters navigate election concerns through the 866-OUR-VOTE (687-8683) voter-protection helpline. The coalition also has hotlines available for voters who speaker other languages or have accessibility needs.
For help in Spanish, call 888-VE-Y-VOTA or 888-839-8682.
For help in Asian languages, call 888-API-VOTE or 888-274-8683.
For help in Arabic, call 888-YALLA-US or 888-925-5287.
For help in American Sign Language through a video, call 301-818-VOTE or 301-818-8683.
For help from Disability Rights Texas, call 888-796-VOTE or 888-796-8683.
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