Musk's $47m bet on Texas Senate fails

Democrat wins Texas Senate upset

James Talarico won the Texas Senate race, flipping the seat Democrat for the first time since 1988. The victory marked a major upset for Republicans and for Elon Musk.

“We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas.”

Musk poured $47m into Paxton's campaign

According to the Financial Times, Musk's political action committee contributed $47m to Republican candidate Ken Paxton's campaign, on top of $158m given to the Senate Leadership Fund in September.

Musk jokes about failed interference

After the loss, Musk wrote on X: "Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn't work this time." Tesla and SpaceX stocks fell 4.9% and 3.4% respectively on Wednesday morning.

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

Musk's record spending across midterms

Musk became the top individual donor in the 2026 midterms overall, contributing an estimated $446m backing Republican candidates through Super Pacs, which can raise unlimited sums but cannot coordinate directly with campaigns.

Talarico responds to Musk's attacks

Musk posted conspiracy theories about Talarico on X. Talarico responded: "There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator."

“There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator.”