Elon Musk’s political spending produced a strikingly poor result in the U.S. elections, with candidates supported by his America PAC losing 20 races and winning only one, according to a WIRED analysis of election data. As results came in Tuesday night, Musk posted darkly about space-based data centers and joked that “space lasers” had failed to interfere with the election.
Shortly after 1 a.m., Musk wrote that “Data centers in space look pretty appealing right now.” About a minute later, he added, “I guess the space lasers trying to interfere with the election didn’t work this time,” followed by a shrug emoji.
Musk-backed candidates suffered heavy losses
As of Wednesday morning, candidates backed by Musk’s America PAC had lost 20 races and won just one. Another 21 races were unopposed, according to the WIRED analysis. The value of Tesla and SpaceX stock also plummeted.
Musk and his PAC have spent more than $400 million supporting Republican candidates since Trump returned to office. Nearly $87 million of that amount went toward advertising in 42 midterm elections. Musk also directed more than $229 million to other political groups, primarily major Republican super PACs supporting House and Senate candidates, along with smaller super PACs created for individual races in Kentucky and Texas.
More than 99 cents of every traceable dollar Musk put into races still being decided went toward contests he lost.
America PAC lost every called Senate race it backed
America PAC ran advertisements in seven Senate elections during the current term. Six of those contests had been called by the time of publication, and Musk’s team lost all six. Sherrod Brown won back Ohio, Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan—where Musk’s PAC spent $9.2 million on advertising—Josh Turek flipped Iowa, and Troy Jackson defeated Susan Collins in Maine.
Jackson’s victory had long been considered unlikely by Democrats. It ended Collins’ 30-year Senate career. Alaska was the only race that had not yet been called at the time of publication.
America PAC did not respond to a request for comment.
Texas spending failed to prevent Paxton’s defeat
Texas hosted the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history, and Musk was its biggest individual spender. The Texas PAC, funded entirely with money he routed through the Senate Leadership Fund, had spent $148 million on the contest by mid-October. Nearly $79 million went toward attacking Democrat James Talarico, while almost $70 million supported scandal-plagued state Attorney General Ken Paxton. America PAC contributed another $47 million directly from Musk.
In October, Musk posted, “There is something seriously wrong with Talarico.” Talarico responded: “There is something seriously wrong with a political system that allows trillionaires to buy private U.S. senators.”
Musk’s spending did not save Paxton. Shortly after 11 p.m., The Associated Press called the race for Talarico, confirming Paxton’s defeat and starting a Democratic effort to overturn Republican control in Austin. That Republican leadership had provided subsidies and tax breaks to Musk’s companies for years.
Democrats are set to oversee key Texas incentives
Beginning next January, Democrats will control much of the Texas political structure, including more than $1.6 billion in tax incentives overseen by the office of ousted Gov. Greg Abbott, who lost Tuesday night to Democrat Gina Hinojosa. Nathan Johnson will also become the state’s first Democratic attorney general in decades.
Musk’s Texas interests are substantial. They include a SpaceX chip factory valued by the state at more than $16.8 billion, Tesla’s robotaxi fleet and SpaceX’s Starbase launch site.
Source: www.wired.com