Elon Musk Spent at Least $474 Million on Midterms; Most of His Candidates Lost
The billionaire was the biggest known donor of the 2026 cycle, but Republicans he backed in Texas and across the country fell short.
Elon Musk poured a record amount of money into the 2026 midterm elections, and the results on Tuesday were a sharp setback for the world’s richest man, according to analyses by CNBC and Bloomberg.
The spending
Musk spent at least $474 million on the elections, including about $224 million in Texas alone, according to a CNBC analysis of campaign finance records. That made him the biggest known donor of the cycle.
In Texas, his favored candidates lost. Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton for a US Senate seat, and Democrat Gina Hinojosa unseated Gov. Greg Abbott, according to the Associated Press.
Nationally, Musk’s America PAC spent nearly $87 million across 44 federal races, CNBC reported based on Federal Election Commission filings. By Wednesday morning, Republicans backed by the group had lost 29 of those contests and won three, with 12 still uncalled.
Market reaction
Shares of Tesla and SpaceX fell on Wednesday as investors weighed the results, CNBC and Bloomberg reported. Both companies have major operations in Texas, where Tesla runs its largest US vehicle factory outside Austin and SpaceX launches rockets from its Starbase complex.
Those operations depend on state decisions about electricity, water, permits and tax incentives. Hinojosa campaigned against large corporate subsidies and has called for a pause on new data centers, though Republicans still control the Texas Legislature, which limits what she can change on her own.
A broader message
In his victory speech, Talarico said big money must be taken out of politics so that no billionaire can buy elections, without naming Musk, CNBC reported.
The new Democratic majorities in Congress could investigate federal contracts and Musk’s past role leading the Department of Government Efficiency. However, President Donald Trump still controls executive agencies and holds veto power, which limits how far Democrats can go.
Not the first time
Musk’s political spending has fallen short before. America PAC backed eight losing congressional candidates in 2024, and Musk spent more than $20 million last year on a Wisconsin court race that his preferred candidate lost.
Musk had said last year that he would spend much less on politics. He has not publicly explained his strategy for 2026 in detail, and he did not immediately address the results in a formal statement.
Developing: some details in this report are preliminary or unconfirmed and are identified as such in the text.
Sources: Associated Press, CNBC, Bloomberg.
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