Why did Elon Musk spend nearly $1 million to help elect David Valadao?
Elon Musk’s America Political Action Committee spent nearly $1 million trying to get Rep. David Valadao re-elected last year.
Democrats say that has left the Hanford Republican eager to support the billionaire, who’s been instrumental in pushing for big government spending cuts.
Republicans counter that such a claim is misleading and wrong.
“Californians will continue to stand with Congressman Valadao and reject the dishonest tactics of a party that lost its way,” said Christian Martinez, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson.
While Valadao has praised President Donald Trump often, and voted with Republicans on major budget issues this year, there’s no evidence he’s been dealing with Musk.
He did, though, see value to the Department of Government Efficiency, where Musk has been a driving force.
“They’re trying a different path than what we’ve tried in the past and other efforts we’ve made haven’t been as effective,” he told Bakersfield’s 23ABC’s Mike Hart last week.
Democrats see a close connection between Musk’s views and Valadao’s actions.
“No matter how much he tries to spin it or hide it, David Valadao will always be beholden to his chief campaign financier, Elon Musk,” said Viet Shelton, spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
“These desperate attempts by out of touch Democrats to mislead Californians are not just sad,” the Republicans’ Martinez said. “They’re embarrassing.”
Musk’s campaign millions
America is a super political action committee founded and funded largely by Musk. It spent about $173 million during the 2024 election cycle on “independent expenditures.”
That means it could spend unlimited amounts to boost or oppose candidates. The group spent $143.8 million to help elect Trump last year, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan research firm.
Valadao’s campaign was not allowed to coordinate with Musk’s PAC. America PAC did not respond to a request for comment.
FEC records show that it tried to help three California members of Congress — Valadao and Reps. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, and Michelle Steel, R-Seal Beach. Calvert won and Steel lost.
The PAC spent $983,484 to help Valadao win. He had been considered vulnerable since Democrat Joe Biden won his district in 2020. Valadao first won his congressional seat in 2012, then lost it in 2018 in the middle of Trump’s first term. He won it back in 2020.
Valadao wound up defeating Democrat Rudy Salas last year by 7 percentage points. The district includes most of Kings County and sections of Tulare and Kern counties.
The FEC filing shows that the PAC’s money went to the usual campaign needs.
About $172,536 went to canvassing and field operations on Sept. 16. A week later, the PAC gave about $103,522 for that purpose again.
As election day approached, the contributions for those purposes continued: another $51,761 on Oct. 4, $103,522 on Oct. 9, the same amount a week later, and $50,846 on Oct. 29. Other funds were used for texting, phone calls, digital media and printing and postage.
Democrats vs. Valadao
Democrats have criticized Valadao this year on four fronts:
▪ DOGE
Valadao saw merit in the Trump administration’s efforts to make the government run more smoothly.
“I think us paying attention to and being good stewards of the taxpayer dollar is always needed. We’ve been going at it from many different approaches for a long period of time,” Valadao told 23ABC’s Hart last Tuesday.
“DOGE comes at it from a different angle and they’ve approached it in a way that’s raised a lot of alarm bells and gotten a lot of activists really fired up. But in the reality, does it actually end up with a lot of these departments being shut down? No, not ultimately,” he told the Bakersfield–based station.
Many departments have opened back up, Valadao said, “especially the ones that we know provide a service to the American people.”
What matters, the congressman said, is that the government is run efficiently.
▪ Medicaid.
Musk told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow on a March 10 broadcast that waste and fraud in entitlement programs, such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, are “the big one to eliminate.”
“One month since President Trump Musk took office, Californians are holding David Valadao and Ken Calvert’s feet to the fire for standing idly by while their extreme party bosses consider taking a hatchet to critical programs, like Medicaid, that families in the Valley and Riverside County rely on,” said a February 20 Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee statement.
Valadao supported the sweeping budget plan passed by the House April 10. That plan directs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which writes health care legislation, to find $880 billion in savings over 10 years.
Since Medicaid, called Medi-Cal in California, is a huge expense, it’s assumed it will have to be cut.
Valadao, though, has twice in recent weeks signed letters along with a handful of Republican congressmen urging the committee to go easy on the program.
The most recent letter, sent to House leaders earlier this month, said the lawmakers “would like to reiterate our strong support for this program that ensures our constituents have reliable healthcare. Balancing the federal budget must not come at the expense of those who depend on these benefits for their health and economic security.”
“We need to look at improving the system,” Valadao told The Bee, but huge cuts could be devastating to his district, where an estimated two-thirds of the population uses the program.
▪ Education
The DCCC said in a statement that Valadao wants to “shut down America’s schools.” There’s no evidence of that.
“Ever since Elon Musk supported his campaign last year, Valadao has stood idly by, falling in line behind the billionaire and the administration while they dismantle the Department of Education — even if it means harming California’s students, families and teachers,” said DCCC spokesman Shelton.
The budget plan Valadao supported directs the House Education and Workforce Committee to cut $330 billion from education. It plans to begin writing that legislation next month.
Trump has said repeatedly he wants to dismantle the Department of Education. Valadao has not said whether he agrees.
▪ Social Security
The DCCC said in an April 15 statement that Valadao has tried to dismantle Social Security services. It says he has “worked relentlessly to tear it down and has fallen in line with Elon Musk’s DOGE in dismantling this vital program.”
There is no evidence Valadao has worked to do that or that he wants to.
Musk called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time” during an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan. DOGE has tried to implement administrative cuts.
But no one is seriously threatening to reduce benefits, and Trump has said repeatedly that Social Security would not be cut.
“The Trump administration will not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits. President Trump himself has said it (over and over and over again),” said a White House statement last month. “Elon Musk didn’t say that, either. The press is lying again.”
A bipartisan Valadao?
While Valadao has been a reliable conservative, he’s also shown streaks of independence. The Conservative Political Action Committee gives him a lifetime score of 55%. House Republicans averaged 81% in 2023, the latest data available. Valadao’s score that year was 59%.
Valadao was also one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021 for the president’s role in the January 6 Capitol insurrection. But the congressman has been loyal to Trump in recent years. After the president spoke to a joint session of Congress last month, Valadao had warm praise.
The congressman said he was “committed to working with the President and my colleagues in Congress to deliver real results for the Central Valley by reinforcing essential programs that support our families, growing our local economy, and ensuring our producers have the resources they need to thrive.”
He’s also joined Democrats to push a variety of bills. Among them: The Fix our Forests Act, which would take steps to reduce wildfires risks, and the December expansion of Social Security to cover many firefighters, teachers and other public employees.
This story was originally published April 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Why did Elon Musk spend nearly $1 million to help elect David Valadao?."
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