Elon Musk poured at least $446 million into the 2026 midterms to support Republican candidates, making him the cycle’s largest donor, but saw his preferred candidates fail as Democrats swept both chambers of Congress and flipped Texas in a historic political turn, according to The Verge.
The billionaire’s massive political spending campaign centered heavily on Texas, his adopted home state and the headquarters for Tesla and SpaceX.
Democrats Flip Texas Despite Musk Spending
James Talarico defeated Paxton to flip the Senate seat despite the influx of capital. Total spending on advertisements between the candidates and their aligned PACs exceeded $573 million. Talarico framed the contest as a battle between the ultrarich and working voters, comparing his campaign to the biblical account of David and Goliath during his victory speech, as reported by Business Insider.
Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time 🤷♂️
Gina Hinojosa ousted incumbent Republican Greg Abbott, another beneficiary of Musk’s financial support, according to Business Insider. Hinojosa has opposed the potential sale of a beachfront state park to SpaceX and campaigned against generous corporate subsidies while calling for a moratorium on new data centers and requirements that developers cover their electricity costs, according to CNBC.
Tesla Shares Drop After Election Results
Stock prices for both Tesla and SpaceX dropped as markets opened following the election results, according to NBC News.
Musk addressed the electoral setbacks early Wednesday morning on his social media platform X. Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time 🤷♂️
Musk wrote, later adding an image apologizing for technical difficulties,
according to Business Insider. He also posted that Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now,
as noted by NBC News.
Democrats Plan Congressional Inquiries
With Democrats securing majorities in both the House and Senate, incoming committee leaders have signaled plans to use congressional investigative powers to scrutinize Musk’s companies and his months spent in 2025 spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, according to reports.
More on SpaceX
My biggest concern is that if there is a clean sweep by Democrats of the House, Senate and Presidency in 2028, they will: 1. Make DC and Puerto Rico states to gain a strong majority in the Senate. 2. Open the borders and legalize everyone living in America illegally to cement…
Tech billionaire Elon Musk joked on Wednesday about Republicans’ defeat in US midterm elections after spending hundreds of millions of dollars to help the party.https://t.co/5CEotWJyfF pic.twitter.com/CSlyzOFvSq
Even in Texas, Elon Musk spends big for fear of Democrats Musk has chucked nearly half a billion into the Mid Terms – we are about to find out how far money, power and influence can gohttps://t.co/hy7D4wWoi1
For every traceable dollar Musk put into races that have been decided, more than 99 cents went to a race he lost.https://t.co/WTxd8qO1f4