Democrats take both chambers of Congress as Musk's midterm money fails to stop Talarico in Texas

Democrats take both chambers of Congress

Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections held on Tuesday, 3 November, a heavy defeat for the Republicans of President Donald Trump. After taking the House of Representatives, Democrats also won Senate seats in Republican strongholds including Kansas and Texas, according to reports. The result could sharply limit the president's powers for the rest of his term.

In Texas, Republican attorney general Ken Paxton, the candidate Musk backed, lost the Senate race to Democrat James Talarico. Advertising spending in the race passed $500 million, according to ad-tracking data, and reports describe it as the costliest contest the country has seen.

Musk's money and the Texas race

Estimates of Elon Musk's spending for Republican candidates vary by source. The Independent put his effort at $300 million and said he gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, which passed matching sums to Texas PAC, according to federal filings. Reuters estimated about $366 million invested in the midterms, while federal electoral commission data showed more than $445 million spent on the Republican campaign by the end of October. Axios also called him the largest individual donor in modern history, citing an estimated $445 million this cycle. Outside groups backing Paxton spent about $239 million, while the largest Democrat-aligned groups spent roughly $45 million. Talarico's campaign reported $64 million raised between July and September, with 97 percent of donations below $100. Trump's MAGA Inc. super PAC did not start spending heavily until early September.

Groups backing Paxton239

Largest Democrat-aligned groups45

Groups backing Paxton

239 USD million

Largest Democrat-aligned groups

45 USD million

Data from the article text

Musk's posts and Talarico's victory speech

Musk answered on X shortly before 1:15am ET on Wednesday, 4 November, with a sarcastic message. He wrote:

“Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn't work this time”

In a second post he said data centers in space looked appealing at the moment. Those posts came less than an hour after Talarico addressed supporters in Austin on Tuesday evening, celebrating a win that reports say made him the first Democrat elected to the US Senate for Texas in 38 years. Talarico told the crowd:

“We were the underdogs in this race.”

He framed the contest as David against Goliath, saying the people of Texas had been his sling as he took on the world's richest man and Washington's political establishment. He also criticized social media platform owners indirectly, describing them as divisive.

Markets and what comes next

Stock futures fell sharply in early trading on Wednesday, 4 November, on fears that Democratic control of Congress would slow the boom in artificial intelligence and data centers. Axios also reported that Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat who opposes data centers, won the Texas governor's race in a shock result. Musk lives in Texas and has moved SpaceX, Tesla, X and other businesses there, but it is not yet clear how the shift in state politics will affect those plans. Axios added that it was also unclear whether the defeat would dampen his appetite for political spending in 2028.