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US Politics

Democrats win Texas and Congress despite Elon Musk's hundreds of millions for Republicans

Musk wrote on X that his "election-interfering space lasers" did not work this time, and Tesla and SpaceX shares fell in premarket trading.

14 news outlets reported this
Liberal8 outletsMusk's failed election bet and its costsCenter3 outletsTalarico's Texas upset and Musk's moneyConservative3 outletsMusk's losses and the data-center fight ahead
Published 3 min read
Overview

Democrats won the Texas and governor races in Tuesday's elections and took control of . James Talarico beat Republican Ken Paxton for the Senate seat, the first Democratic win there since 1988. Gina Hinojosa defeated Gov. Greg Abbott.

Elon Musk, the world's richest person, was the top individual donor of the cycle, backing Republicans through , including America PAC and the Senate Leadership Fund. The BBC puts his giving at an estimated $446 million, and The Independent, citing The New York Times, at least $474 million. In his victory speech, Talarico said all the money in the world was "no match for the people of Texas."

Musk wrote on X that his "election-interfering space lasers" did not work this time, and that data centers in space looked "pretty appealing right now." Shares of Tesla and SpaceX, both based in Texas, fell in premarket trading on Wednesday. Hinojosa has called for a moratorium on new data centers and for ending the industry's tax breaks.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was not on the ballot and would have won in a landslide if he were, according to the Daily Mail.

Key figures
  • at least $474 million Musk's donations to Republican causes, per The New York Times as cited by The Independent — The Independent (US)
  • $445.7 million Musk's giving as of October 29, per Federal Election Commission data — Daily Mail
  • $168 million Musk's contribution to the Senate Leadership Fund — Daily Mail
  • around 6% and 7% Tesla and SpaceX premarket share drops, per Business Insider — Business Insider
  • 3.8% SpaceX premarket share drop, in the Reuters report — The Daily Signal

Three sides of the story

Liberal8 outlets

Musk's failed election bet and its costs

The Independent opens with Musk's spending, saying he put "nearly $500 million" into Republican campaigns and got back only the sight of his backed movement failing, and it notes Democrats now control Congress. The New Republic's headline says he "spirals" over his "failure to buy elections," and it calls him a "tech oligarch." It adds that Hinojosa campaigned against him and called for a data-center moratorium, and that the Democratic-controlled Congress has signaled investigations.

Semafor's "Liz's view" column, headlined "How big money lost the 2026 midterms," pairs Musk with Vivek Ramaswamy, who lost his Ohio governor bid, and says Paxton's numbers faded as Musk spent more. Business Insider leads with the market: Tesla and SpaceX shares fell around 6% and 7% premarket, and it quotes Wedbush analyst Dan Ives saying Musk "needs to find the path forward with Texas now."

Center3 outlets

Talarico's Texas upset and Musk's money

The BBC leads with Talarico's "resounding victory" as an upset for Republicans "and for Elon Musk." It quotes Talarico saying that all the money in the world is "no match for the people of Texas" and cites the Financial Times on Musk's PAC giving to Paxton. It also quotes Musk's "space lasers" joke, describes him as the top individual donor with an estimated $446m, and explains how super PACs work.

The BBC adds that Musk posted that there was "something deeply wrong with Talarico," and that Talarico answered by criticizing a system that lets "one trillionaire" buy a senator. Forbes pairs Musk's "space lasers" quip with criticism of his spending from Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman. The Journal's news report focuses on Tesla and SpaceX shares falling sharply premarket after the Democratic sweep.

Conservative3 outlets

Musk's losses and the data-center fight ahead

The Daily Signal runs a Reuters report that calls Musk one of the "biggest losers" of the midterms. It looks ahead to Democratic scrutiny of his companies and quotes Robert Garcia, the next House Oversight chair, saying "Lawyer up." It also quotes Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management, who says Musk's cash could not beat higher utility bills, grocery prices and gas prices, and Hinojosa saying "Texas is not for sale."

The Daily Mail's headline says Musk's "$445million" went "down the drain." It reports that America PAC targeted 43 races and that Trump has denied he is to blame. It also quotes a White House official saying "Candidate quality matters."

The Daily Wire starts from Musk's data-center post and sets out the Democratic push for moratoriums and Trump's reply that there is a "sick conspiracy" against AI. It also details Musk's xAI supercomputers and SpaceX's request to the FCC to launch up to 1 million satellites as orbital data centers.

All sources: 15 articles from 14 outlets

Liberal (9)

Center (3)

Conservative (3)

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