Elon Musk spent at least $446 million backing Republicans in the US midterm elections, setting a new personal record. The effort failed to deliver the results he sought: Democrats won all five Senate races where his America PAC spent the most on Republican candidates.
The SpaceX and Tesla chief directed money to at least eight Republican-aligned Super PACs and other groups, aiming to help Republicans retain control of Congress. His spending exceeded the nearly $290 million he contributed during the 2024 election cycle. At least $216 million went to his own America PAC, while $168 million went to the Senate Leadership Fund.
Texas was the focus of Musk’s political effort. America PAC spent at least $28 million on advertising and messaging against Democrat James Talarico in his Senate race against Republican Ken Paxton. Talarico won on Tuesday and, in his victory speech, said the result showed that “all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas.”
Democratic candidates also won Senate races in Michigan, Maine, Ohio and Iowa, where America PAC had spent tens of millions supporting Republicans. The group’s campaign messages included attacks focused on transgender rights and claims that Democrats were radical socialists.
In Texas, Republicans also lost the governor’s office and the Senate race, and were expected to lose control of the state House. Gina Hinojosa, the incoming Democratic governor, has called for a moratorium on data centers and has been seeking access to unredacted emails between Governor Greg Abbott’s office and Musk.
The election results could bring closer scrutiny of Musk’s businesses. House Democrats have called for investigations into his conduct as leader of the Department of Government Efficiency and said they would examine federal funding for his companies. Musk was largely quiet on election night, aside from a joking post on X: “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now.”
Sources: The Guardian Business.