Elon Musk funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into a political campaign in an attempt to unseat José Garza, a Texas prosecutor, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The Tesla CEO used a Political Action Committee (PAC) called Save Austin Now to oppose Garza in the Democratic primary for Travis County district attorney earlier this year.

Musk, known for his involvement in political and social issues, poured significant resources into the campaign. Save Austin Now, a group that promotes itself as "nonpartisan" and dedicated to improving Austin’s quality of life, launched a multi-pronged attack against Garza. According to The Wall Street Journal, the PAC spent over $650,000 on TV ads, flyers, and text campaigns targeting Garza. One particularly inflammatory flyer depicted a bloodstained teddy bear, accusing Garza of “filling Austin's streets with pedophiles & killers.”

The PAC also branded Garza as a prosecutor with a "radical ideology", claiming he was “letting violent criminals out of jail in Austin.”

Despite the massive financial backing from Musk, the campaign to oust Garza was ultimately unsuccessful. Garza, who ran in the March Democratic primary, secured a victory over his opponent, who significantly outraised him. Garza is now favored to win against Republican Daniel Betts in Travis County, which leans heavily Democratic.

This isn’t Musk’s first foray into political spending. In July, reports surfaced that Musk was planning to donate $45 million per month to America PAC, a political group working to support Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. Musk has denied this claim, but multiple sources, including Bloomberg, reported that Musk had made undisclosed donations to the same PAC.

Furthermore, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Musk had been holding weekly meetings with consultants from America PAC to discuss ways to boost voter turnout for Trump in key swing states. Musk has become one of the 30 wealthiest donors contributing to Trump’s campaign through various PACs.

The Influence of Super PACs
Musk’s actions are emblematic of the influence wealthy individuals can wield in U.S. politics through Super PACs. Since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, Super PACs have been allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money to support candidates, provided they do not directly coordinate with campaigns.

Despite Musk’s vast wealth and his attempts to shape political outcomes, the case in Travis County demonstrates that even large sums of money can’t guarantee success in the political arena. As Garza’s victory shows, local dynamics and voter sentiment can sometimes outweigh the financial firepower of even the world’s richest individuals.