Elon Musk spent millions of dollars on Republican races in Texas, where he lives and where SpaceX is headquartered. The New York Times reported that Musk spent about $180 million in Texas races in total. State finance records show he gave $5 million to Gov. Greg Abbott's campaign in September, and federal records show he gave $10 million to a PAC supporting Attorney General Ken Paxton's Senate campaign.
Democrats defeated both candidates. Gina Hinojosa won the governor's race over Abbott, and James Talarico won the Senate race over Paxton. Musk posted on X that space data centers looked appealing and that his election-interfering space lasers had not worked this time. SpaceX stock fell 5% by Wednesday afternoon.
Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor, said Musk's visibility made his presence difficult for many voters to accept and that it hurt Republicans. SpaceX is also building a $16.8 billion Terafab chip plant in Grimes County, which is expected to create 3,000 jobs and used a $30 million state grant.