Musk's half-billion-dollar bet on Republicans fails as Democrats win Texas

Democrats win the Texas Senate and governor races

James Talarico, a 37-year-old Democrat, beat Republican Ken Paxton by more than 12 points in the Texas Senate race held on Tuesday, 3 November. The contest became the most expensive Senate election to date, with more than $573 million spent on advertising by the two candidates and their aligned PACs. Talarico is the first Democratic senator from Texas since 1988. In the governor's race, Democrat Gina Hinojosa ousted Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, the first Democratic win for that office in more than 30 years. Talarico framed the race as a "top versus bottom" struggle between the ultrarich and everyone else, and AFP reports that Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress.

Where Musk's money went

The size of Elon Musk's Republican spending depends on the estimate. One report put it at more than $445 million, while the New York Times, as cited by N-tv, counted about $474 million. Either way, he was reportedly the biggest donor of the 2026 cycle and of American history. Most of his money was spent in Texas, where Tesla and SpaceX are headquartered. More than $168 million went to super PACs backing Paxton, and his America PAC, which received $216 million from him, spent $34.7 million in Texas. Paxton's campaign took in $22.3 million in direct donations, against the $146 million Talarico raised from voters. AdImpact projects $11.6 billion in midterm advertising and OpenSecrets puts the 2026 cycle at $11.9 billion, according to AFP.

Tesla and SpaceX fall at the open

Wall Street first reacted with shock, as Asian indices dropped and the Nasdaq at one point lost more than 2% in premarket trading. The mood then turned. At the start of trading on Wednesday, 4 November, the Dow Jones rose about 2%, the S&P 500 gained 1.1% and the Nasdaq opened just under 1% higher. Analysts had warned of a sell-off in tech stocks over possible Democratic rules, but that wave did not arrive, and most of the Magnificent Seven, including Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia and Meta, held up. Tesla and SpaceX were the exception, with the shares of each falling about 5%.

Tesla-5%

SpaceX-5%

Dow Jones2%

S&P 5001.1%

Tesla

-5 %

SpaceX

-5 %

Dow Jones

2 %

S&P 500

1.1 %

Data from the article text

Musk's response on X

Musk stayed quiet through election night, then posted two ironic messages on X on Wednesday. In one, he joked that his space lasers meant to interfere in the election apparently did not work this time. In the other, he said data centres in space currently look particularly attractive. N-tv reads the second post as a jab at the political hurdles now facing him, since SpaceX is already pursuing space-based data centres. Democrats could tighten rules on the expansion of AI infrastructure, particularly in Texas, where tech firms plan billions in new data centres. Blick reports that many Democrats want to regulate the large electricity and water use of such facilities.

What comes next

Democratic lawmakers plan to take a closer look at Musk's former role leading the government efficiency office DOGE, according to N-tv. They had already tried to examine his conduct but lacked the majorities in Congress to push their demands through. A former college teacher from a poor district of San Antonio told AFP that all the money in the world does not match the people of Texas.