Democrat James Talarico won a Texas Senate seat, flipping the position from Republican control for the first time since 1988. The result defied spending by billionaire Elon Musk, whose political action committee contributed $47 million to Republican candidate Ken Paxton, on top of $158 million Musk gave to the Senate Leadership Fund in September, according to the Financial Times.
Talarico said in his acceptance speech: "We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas."
Musk posted on X: "Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn't work this time."
Talarico's victory helped Democrats take control of the US Congress. Musk has invested heavily in Texas, basing Tesla's headquarters in Austin and SpaceX's Starbase launch site in the state.
Beyond the Paxton race, Musk became the top individual donor in this year's midterms overall, contributing an estimated $446 million to back Republican candidates through Super PACs. Super PACs can raise unlimited sums and spend independently on ads but cannot give directly to candidates or coordinate with their campaigns.
On the campaign trail, Musk posted on X that "there is something deeply wrong with Talarico" after the Democrat briefly disappeared from public view in October. Talarico responded by posting: "There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator."
Tesla and SpaceX stocks fell 4.9% and 3.4% respectively on Wednesday morning following the election outcome, while broader markets rose.