“President Trump has told advisers that he plans to keep raising money for his political operation — a move aimed at salvaging his clout after the GOP’s midterm debacle,” Axios reports.

“Maintaining a political organization — either his existing MAGA Inc. super PAC or one to be created — would give Trump a vehicle to try to influence elections in 2028 and beyond, including the next presidential contest.”

Charlie Warzel: “Musk’s unprecedented spending may even have hurt Republicans.”

“President Donald Trump hasn’t spent a penny of his 10-figure wealth to boost fellow Republicans this cycle,” the Washington Sun reports.

“A Washington Sun review of Federal Election Commission records indicates Trump hasn’t donated to any candidate committee, national party committee or super PAC during the 2026 election cycle, through Oct. 14.”

“There’s no public indication that Trump, who’s grown significantly richer during his second presidential term, has contributed his own money since then, either.”

“For months, Republicans have known they have one shot at preventing a blue wave in the 2026 midterm elections. The Democrats has an advantage in polling, in public opinion, in candidate profiles, and voter mobilization. But the GOP, as it so often does, has the money,” Rolling Stone reports.

“‘Musk will spend the money,’ one Republican fundraiser told me a few weeks back, waving off the growing threat of James Talarico flipping one of Texas’ two Senate seats blue. He wasn’t wrong: In the 2026 cycle, Republican megadonor Elon Musk dropped more than $400 million into races nationwide, with $158 million of that going toward= super PACs supporting Talarico’s opponent, Texas’ scandal-prone Attorney General Ken Paxton.”

“But now, on the eve of the election, Democratic consultants think that Musk’s best shot at taking them out of the race failed to land. The dark money, they say, doesn’t seem to have buried Talarico — and other candidates around the country also seem to be holding their own in the face of an onslaught of conservative spending.”

Paul Krugman: “Donald Trump has urged voters to pretend that he’s on the ballot in the midterm elections. Given his historic unpopularity, his opponents can only hope that people take his advice. And the polls, which show Republicans almost certain to lose the House and likely to lose the Senate, suggest that Democrats are getting their wish.”

“Voters should also know, however, that Trump isn’t alone in de facto being on the ballot. America’s oligarchs — a tiny group of almost inconceivably wealthy people — also have a huge stake in this election. The Democratic Party isn’t ideologically monolithic, but it’s basically a center-left party that will be much less favorable to plutocrats than the GOP. And because they rushed to prostrate themselves at Trump’s feet after the 2024 election, many of the oligarchs may find themselves personally in the crosshairs if a Democratic Congress begins serious hearings on Trumpian corruption.”

“Fearing this outcome, the oligarchs have been pouring money into the midterm elections, in an all-out effort to limit the size of the blue wave.”

“House Republicans’ political arm is on track to spend more than $100 million on coordinated campaign ads by Election Day, according to an aide with the group — a surge of cash that has boosted GOP candidates as they try to hold their slim congressional majority,” the Washington Sun reports.

“The spending from the National Republican Congressional Committee — aided by a roughly $30 million contribution from the Republican National Committee — represents a large portion of the GOP’s overall advertising effort in House races this year. The cash flood has helped give Republicans a crucial spending edge over Democrats in many battleground districts.”

“Elon Musk has given more money during the midterm elections than any donor has ever spent in a single election cycle, apart from wealthy candidates who have funded their own runs for office,” the New York Times reports.

“He has contributed a stunning amount: $474 million, or nearly half a billion dollars.”

“At the end of a campaign, the cash really starts flowing,” the New York Times reports.

“Hundreds of millions of dollars have flooded the political system since August, when The New York Times last ranked the top 20 donors in the midterms. Our new ranking, analyzing contributions made through the most recent filing deadline in mid-October, shows that the updated top 20 have pumped roughly $2 billion into federal races this cycle.”

“These megadonors are playing an outsize role in the most expensive midterm election, as measured in political advertising, since at least the 2018 cycle, according to data from AdImpact, a media tracking firm. Their $2 billion will fund a range of campaign operations, but to put the amount into perspective, it’s equivalent to roughly 15 percent of all the money that will be spent on ads this cycle.”

CNBC: “Federal law requires super PACs and political committees to report large independent expenditures within 24 or 48 hours depending on how close to Election Day the spending occurs, showing how much they spent and which candidates they supported or opposed. Their donors, however, are disclosed less frequently through periodic campaign finance reports.”

“And in 2026, the practice of creating new, last-minute PACs has exploded. Both parties are using the tactic, with Republican-linked PACs spending about twice what those connected with Democrats have disbursed.”

Washington Sun: “In the past two weeks, a collection of super PACs have together spent more than $15 million boosting outsider congressional candidates with little chance of winning — but who could peel enough votes away from the Republican or Democratic candidate to sway the election.”

“Voters won’t learn who’s bankrolling many of the outside spending groups until after the election. That’s because the last financial disclosure reports due to the FEC before Election Day cover super PAC financials only up to Oct. 14, and some of these super PACs reported no income prior to that date.”

“Billionaire venture capitalist Reid Hoffman has put $8 million into the Democratic Party of Wisconsin over the past five weeks to help the party’s gubernatorial nominee David Crowley in his race against Republican Tom Tiffany,” CNBC reports.

“Michael Bloomberg is making another big splash in the final days of the election,” Politico reports.

“One of Democrats’ most important megadonors, the former NYC mayor and presidential contender plunged nearly $36 million more into a bevy of House, Senate and gubernatorial campaigns this week. That’s on top of the late-breaking $80 million he already announced last week.”

“The eleventh-hour gusher came as Bloomberg’s political team saw a two-pronged chance to make an impact: shoring up long-competitive races where they wanted to erase Republicans’ financial advantage on TV, and expanding into reach seats where the polling is close but little outside money had come in.”

“The investing industry is throwing its weight behind Republican allies ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in an effort to stem a populist wave it fears will bring greater scrutiny of private equity’s reach,” Bloomberg reports.

“Elon Musk is likely to end this election cycle as the biggest single donor. He’s also surprisingly hard to find,” the Washington Sun reports.

“The last time Elon Musk got involved in an election, last year in Wisconsin, he was everywhere: He spent millions of dollars and danced onstage before a crowd of thousands wearing a block of foam cheese on his head. His chosen candidate lost by 10 percentage points. Wisconsin Democrats used Musk’s involvement in the state Supreme Court race as fodder for advertisements, and now they credit voters’ irritation with Musk for boosting turnout and making a potentially pivotal difference in the special election.”

“This year, the richest man in the world has avoided campaign trail theatrics, even as he’s upped his financial stake.”

“Elon Musk’s ability to influence elections could be sharply curtailed under a new proposal that offers an early look at how Democrats might use power if next week’s elections go their way,” the Washington Sun reports.

“The idea, from Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and California Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is to pass a bill closing what they’re calling the ‘Elon Musk loophole.'”

“Many things look grim for Republicans in the final stretch before the midterm elections: President Donald Trump’s approval rating is at all-time low. Polling shows Democrats ahead in key races in red states. High fuel prices are fanning voters’ affordability concerns,” Bloomberg reports.

“Yet the GOP remains competitive in part thanks to one extremely powerful weapon: A massive cash pile that far exceeds Democrats’ fundraising haul.”

“The Republican party and three super PACs tied to Trump or House and Senate leaders have raised $2.1 billion, compared to $1.4 billion for their Democratic counterparts. Allied conservative groups, like Elon Musk’s America PAC, have raked in hundreds of millions more.”