Elon Musk’s PAC makes transgender people its multi-million-dollar midterm target

As Elon Musk prepares to spend a reported $100 million helping Republicans retain power, his early midterm spending appears focused almost exclusively on attacks involving transgender rights.America PAC, the political group backed by Musk, launched an advertising blitz in four states attacking Democrats over their support for transgender athletes and gender-affirming care. The group funded negative ads targeting James Talarico in Texas, Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Josh Turek in Iowa, and former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola in Alaska, according to The New York Times.The ad against Talarico attacks positions the Texas Democrat took as a member of the state Legislature. “James Talarico believes there are six genders,” a narrator says in the ad. “Talarico voted to let men play women’s sports and for taxpayer-funded sex changes on kids.”The ad echoes attacks from Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, who has characterized Talarico’s support for transgender rights as a woke misreading of Christian values.Related: How a mean, disrespectful tweet about Rachel Levine shaped the X platform Elon Musk bought and brokeAmerica PAC is deploying the same playbook against Brown, who was an LGBTQ+ ally in the Senate before his defeat in 2024. Brown is now running against appointed Republican Sen. Jon Husted, whose record includes votes against marriage equality and allowing gay people to adopt.“Just two years ago, we fired Sherrod Brown because Brown put the trans agenda ahead of Ohio’s values,” a narrator says in the anti-Brown ad.Meanwhile, an ad attacking Turek, an Iowa state representative, claims, “Josh Turek voted to spend our tax dollars on sex change surgeries for children ... Turek didn’t stop there. He voted to let biological men enter girls’ locker rooms and bathrooms.”Related: Elon Musk leads campaign to force Netflix to remove shows with trans characters Turek is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson for Iowa’s open Senate seat. Peltola is