Elon Musk apparently looked at his bank account, shrugged, and wired $5 million to a super PAC backing Vivek Ramaswamy's run for governor of Ohio. As Conservative Brief reported, the donation was made in May and gives Ramaswamy even more financial muscle heading into a general election showdown against Democrat Amy Acton.
Now, Ramaswamy is not exactly hurting for cash. The biotech entrepreneur and former 2024 presidential candidate has already self-funded $25 million into his own campaign, which is a record-setting number for Ohio gubernatorial races. Total spending has blown past $28 million. At this point the man is basically trying to buy Ohio one television ad at a time, and he might actually pull it off.
Ramaswamy won the GOP primary in May and has been doing the standard Republican candidate thing: talking about cutting taxes, spurring economic growth, and strengthening the workforce. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee endorsed him this week during a speech at Kimball Midwest, which tracks perfectly since the business group has backed previous Republican governors like Mike DeWine and John Kasich. Shocking absolutely nobody.
Musk is not the only billionaire writing checks here. Investor Jeff Yass has contributed at least $10 million, with reports suggesting the total could be as high as $20 million, to a key pro-Ramaswamy super PAC. New York financier Ross Stevens kicked in another $5 million to the same group. Super PACs like Victors not Victims and V-PAC have been using these massive donations to blanket the state with Ramaswamy's message. At this rate, Ohio residents are going to see more Ramaswamy ads than car insurance commercials.
Musk and Ramaswamy have a history together from their work co-leading the federal Department of Government Efficiency, where they have been described as friends and occasional rivals in the quest to slash government waste. Apparently their friendship survived whatever rivalry existed, because five million dollars is a pretty solid friendship bracelet.
Meanwhile, Republicans got another boost this week when the Supreme Court ruled that political parties can now coordinate spending with their candidates without limits. Previously, coordination limits in House races ranged from $63,600 to $127,200, and Senate limits ranged from $127,200 to nearly $4 million depending on state population. Now those caps are gone entirely.
Democrats are not thrilled. Brian Derrick, founder of the Democratic fundraising platform Oath, said the decision would "unequivocally" benefit the Republican National Committee. "They're gonna be able to deploy those funds in more highly-leveraged scenarios to make up for the gap in candidate funding," Derrick said. "It's definitely a boost for the Republican Party in the midterms, and it's a shame for the country overall."
So to recap: Ramaswamy has his own money, Musk's money, Yass's money, Stevens's money, and now a Supreme Court ruling that lets the party pile on even more. Amy Acton might want to check behind the couch cushions.
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