KINGSTON, N.Y. — U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan, who has been strongly critical of Elon Musk and his former work in government, was criticized this week by his congressional opponent for holding stocks in Musk’s company, Tesla.
Ryan’s Republican opponent in November’s election, Jackie Auringer, said the stock holdings are hypocritical on Ryan’s part and have helped make Musk a trillionaire.
The holdings were listed in the latest annual congressional financial disclosure report filed on Thursday for 2025.
Ryan’s 2025 financial disclosure shows he personally owns between $100,001 and $250,000 in Tesla stock. He also holds shares of Starbucks, Apple and General Mills, among others. The disclosure form indicates that he has not sold any of it.
U.S. Rep Pat Ryan held a press conference outside the Planned Parenthood office on Grand Street in Kingston on June 12, 2026 announcing the reintroduction of his Protecting Reproductive Freedom Act. Ryan was joined by state Attorney General Letitia James, along with other state and local officials, including Michelle Hinchey, D-Saugerties and Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger, along with officials from Planned Parenthood and the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine. (Brian Hubert, Daily Freeman)
Ryan’s campaign said in a statement that the congressman will continue to stand up against Musk. Ryan, D-Gardiner, represents the 18th Congressional District.
“Pat will always stand up to greedy billionaires like Elon Musk, especially when they mess with the Hudson Valley,” the campaign said. “When Musk tried to close our Social Security office in Poughkeepsie, Pat rallied the community to protect our seniors and stopped him.”
“Pat has not traded any stocks since becoming a member of Congress and is fighting for a ban on congressional stock trading to start cleaning up the corruption in Washington,” the statement added. “This is another nonsense attack from his opponent who has spent more time at Mar-a-Lago the past 5 years than she has in the Hudson Valley. That’s why she refuses to talk about the issues that actually matter to our community, like why Republicans cut $1T from health care and kicked up to 240,000 NY-18 residents off their health care.”
In the past, he has strongly criticized Musk when he ran the Department of Government Efficiency known as DOGE, in particular, its handling of Social Security Administration data.
He also has pushed for a bill to effectively ban members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from trading individual stocks. In July, he defended his opposition to a separate bill to prevent Congress members from insider trading because he said it included “voter suppression” components.
Auringer said Ryan is fake.
Republican Congressional candidate Jackie Mary Auringer can be seen during a rally Monday, June 22, 2026, at the Ulster County Republican headquarters in the town of Ulster (Patricia R. Doxsey/Daily Freeman)
“The more you look at Pat Ryan – the more it’s clear, he is a complete phony,” Auringer said in a statement. “You can’t stand on a stage and call a man a threat to Social Security, then go home and check your portfolio hoping his stock’s up,” Auringer said. “Hudson Valley families don’t get to have it both ways with their own paychecks.”
“Pat’s message: Musk is great at making money for me, but not for you?” Auringer said.
The Auringer campaign declined to respond to an inquiry about where Auringer’s stands on Musk.
Auringer’s own financial disclosure report shows no stock holdings and that she primarily earned over $52,000 from her family’s company, Urban Precast.