Elon Musk spent at least $445 million backing Republicans in midterm elections

Who's involved

• Elon MuskRepublican campaign donor
• Greg AbbottRepublican candidate for Texas governor
• Ken PaxtonRepublican candidate for U.S. Senate from Texas
• James TalaricoDemocrat who won U.S. Senate race from Texas
• Gina HinojosaDemocrat who won Texas governor's race
• Gene WuChairman of state legislature's Democratic Caucus
• Chip RoyOutgoing Republican U.S. Representative from Texas

The facts

• Republicans lost control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections.²
• Democrats gained control of the Texas House in the 2026 midterm elections.²
• James Talarico, a Democrat, won the U.S. Senate race from Texas.²
• Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat, won the Texas governor's race.²
• This was the first statewide Democratic win in Texas in more than 30 years.²
• Slightly more than half of Texas voters had an unfavorable opinion of Musk per AP Voter Poll.²

Who said what

These are statements and claims made by the people involved. They are reported, not verified.

• Gene Wu, chairman of state legislature's Democratic Caucus This era of open corruption is going to come to an end.²
• James Talarico, Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate Paxton is funded by one dude. Elon Musk wants our land, water, and tax dollars.²
• Gina Hinojosa, Democrat candidate for governor Elon Musk got a $1.7 billion property tax break in Texas.²
• Chip Roy, outgoing Republican U.S. Representative Musk's dollars reached the upper bound of benefit to GOP effort.²