Key takeaways:
- James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, flipping a Texas Senate seat Democrats had not held since 1988.
- Musk spent an estimated $446 million supporting Republican candidates in the midterms, according to the BBC and Al Jazeera.
- Democrats won control of the House and Senate; Al Jazeera also reported that Gina Hinojosa defeated Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Democrat James Talarico won a Texas Senate seat that Republicans had held since 1988, defeating Ken Paxton despite extensive spending on the Republican’s behalf by Elon Musk. The victory helped Democrats take control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
“We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas,” Talarico said in his victory speech. He said his campaign had taken on “goliaths,” including “the richest man in the world,” and won.
Musk made light of the result on Wednesday. “Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time,” the Tesla and SpaceX founder wrote on X, the platform he owns.
Musk spent an estimated $446 million supporting Republican candidates in the midterms, making him the largest individual donor, according to the BBC and Al Jazeera. The BBC, citing the Financial Times, reported that Musk’s political action committee contributed $47 million to support Paxton, in addition to $158 million Musk gave the Republican-aligned Senate Leadership Fund in September. Al Jazeera reported that the fund used Musk’s $158 million in donations to support Paxton.
The Texas contest was one of the most expensive Senate races ever, according to the BBC. Musk’s spending did not prevent Democrats from winning a seat they had not held in nearly four decades. Nationwide, Republicans lost control of the Senate and House of Representatives and suffered defeats in states including Texas and Kansas, Al Jazeera reported.
The candidates also differed over the development of data centres. Paxton proposed making Texas the centre of the country’s artificial intelligence industry by building them rapidly, while Talarico campaigned for tighter regulations, according to Al Jazeera. After the election, Musk posted another joke on X: “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now”.
Musk has made Texas a hub for his businesses. Tesla is headquartered in Austin, and SpaceX operates its Starbase launch site in the state. Al Jazeera reported that Musk has also moved X’s headquarters to Texas.
During the campaign, Musk posted on X that “There is something deeply wrong with Talarico” after the Democrat briefly disappeared from the campaign trail in October, the BBC reported. Talarico replied: “There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator.”
Musk also supported Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, according to Al Jazeera. Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Abbott despite a $5 million donation from Musk to the Republican candidate, the outlet reported.
Much of Musk’s election spending went through political action committees. Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited sums independently, including on advertisements supporting candidates, but cannot donate directly to candidates or coordinate with their campaigns. Musk had also poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Donald Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign, the BBC reported.
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