Elon Musk's millions fail to deliver Texas for the Republicans in fierce midterm

Democrat James Talarico’s decisive victory in Texas’s Senate race ended a Republican hold on the seat dating to 1988 and underscored the scale of Democratic gains in the 2026 midterms. The result was a major setback for Elon Musk, whose companies are increasingly rooted in Texas, with Tesla’s headquarters in Austin and SpaceX’s Starbase launch site in the state. Talarico framed the win as a rebuke to wealthy political donors, saying ordinary Texans had overcome vast spending.

Musk’s political action committee reportedly spent $47 million supporting Republican Ken Paxton, in addition to $158 million he gave the Senate Leadership Fund in September. Across the midterms, he was estimated to have contributed $446 million to Republican candidates, making him the election’s largest individual donor. The funds flowed through “super PACs,” which can raise unlimited sums and spend independently on campaigning, but cannot donate directly to candidates or coordinate with their campaigns. Musk also used X to attack Talarico and promote conspiracy theories about him. The defeat contrasts with Musk’s substantial financial support for Donald Trump’s successful 2024 campaign, showing that even unprecedented political spending could not secure Paxton’s victory. Democrats’ criticism of expanding AI data centres was another notable feature of the campaign; after the result, Tesla and SpaceX shares fell, despite broader stock-market gains.