The New Jersey Democrat running against Elon Musk

• Democrat Sue Altman is running against Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in a competitive House race in New Jersey.
• But she's also running against Elon Musk, whose super PAC has spent over $1.5 million in her race.
• In an interview with BI, Altman explained why she thinks going after Musk resonates in her district.

When Democratic candidate Sue Altman met Rep. Tom Kean for their first and only debate earlier this month, she brought up Elon Musk's name six different times.

As an incumbent GOP congressman in a battleground district, Kean has been the beneficiary of more than $1.5 million in outside spending from "America PAC," the super PAC founded and funded by the world's richest man. That spending has gone toward canvassing, text messages, mailers, and even a digital ad that initially mispronounced Kean's name (it's pronounced "cain.")

"Billionaires like Elon Musk," Altman said during the debate, are "funding my opponent's campaign." There's "no chance" Musk would be spending money to boost the incumbent GOP congressman, she said, if he was actually "pro-worker." Kean had been avoiding constituents and the press, she said, because he didn't want them to know he shares "Elon Musk's values."

"One of the richest men in the world is using his money to basically create a vertical monopoly in our democracy," Altman told Business Insider in an interview, pointing to Musk's spending at both the presidential level and in congressional races. "I think that's a complete bastardization of how our democracy was designed."

For Altman, going after Musk is a natural fit. The former executive director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, Altman is a longtime progressive activist who has emphasized the dangers of corporate power and corruption in both her career and her present congressional campaign.

Her argument on Musk is two-fold: That his political spending is corrosive to democracy, and that his values are out of step with the voters in New Jersey's 7th district, the kind of upscale, suburban district where Democrats have made gains in the age of Donald Trump.

"This district is well-educated, it's affluent, these are people who believe in institutions, believe in democracy," Altman said. "These people have a certain high expectation of public service from the people they elect. And Elon Musk has no alignment with those things."

In a race where Altman sees women's rights, the economy, and democracy as top issues, Musk provides a solid foil.

"I think women find Elon Musk sexist," she says on women's rights. "People in general do not trust billionaires to know what's best for the average person," she says on the economy. "A massive spend by one of the world's richest men is not something that people want to see," she says on democracy.

She's also taking advantage of the fact that Kean — the son of a well-known former governor — is relatively averse to public engagement. The congressman has held just one town hall in recent months, and he's gained notoriety for his refusal to engage with reporters.

In the absence of a significant presence from Kean, Musk fills the void.

Both Musk and Kean's campaign did not respond to a request for comment, while a spokesman for America PAC declined to comment.

Altman is hardly the only Democratic candidate who's had to contend with Musk's largesse. In addition to spending more than $140 million to elect Trump, America PAC has spent more than $19 million across 18 competitive House districts in an apparent bid to help the GOP remain in control of the lower chamber.

She's also not the only Democrat who's gone after Musk as a result of his spending. Future Forward, a super PAC that supports Vice President Kamala Harris, featured footage of Musk at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania in an ad painting the former president as too cozy with other billionaires.

In New York's 17th district, former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones wrote in a fundraising post on X that "extreme MAGA billionaires like Musk are desperate" to keep his opponent, Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, in office. And in California's 41st district, Democratic candidate Will Rollins sent a fundraising email to supporters saying that "Trump endorser and billionaire conspiracy theorist Elon Musk" is "trying to buy this seat" for his opponent, Republican Rep. Ken Calvert.

But Altman has made Musk into a major foe in a way that no other Democrat has, even as some in the party fret that the billionaire entrepreneur, who founded both Tesla and SpaceX, has a certain appeal to some voters. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania recently likened Musk to Tony Stark from the comic "Iron Man," saying that Musk is a "bigger star than Trump" to voters in places like Scranton.

"My job is to represent the people of this district, to run a campaign that represents the values of this district, and if I see someone meddling in that, I'm going to call it out," Altman said, defending her approach. "Having lots and lots of money does not equal cool."

While Musk may appear "cool" to some voters, Altman and other Democrats are betting that he can be made into the next big boogeyman for Democrats, a role previously occupied by the Koch brothers. Musk has also done plenty to make himself into a boogeyman for the left, including leaning into conspiracy theories about immigration and Jews while recently wondering aloud why no one had tried to assassinate Harris or President Joe Biden.

There's some evidence that the opportunity is ripe to make for Democrats to make Musk into a villain. A September poll from NBC News found that just 6% of Democrats had a positive view of the billionaire.

"Even if somebody admires Elon Musk's contribution to technology — and I still don't even find many of those people — they don't think that means he should extend his power to influencing our elections here at home," said Altman.

"And by the way, Elon Musk is really creepy," she added, referencing a recent post in which Musk offered to give Taylor Swift "a child" after the pop star endorsed Harris. "I wouldn't let my best friend date Elon Musk, let alone let him buy our elections."