Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton to flip a Texas Senate seat that had been held by Republicans since 1988. The victory came despite billionaire Elon Musk emerging as the midterm cycle's top donor by funneling an estimated $446 million into independent Super PACs to back conservative candidates. Musk contributed tens of millions directly to Paxton's efforts alongside massive gifts to national party funds and used his social platform X to attack Talarico. Talarico overcame the digital and financial onslaught, declaring during his victory speech that the electorate could not be bought.
Key points
Record-setting financial contributions from billionaire donors failed to secure a Republi…: Record-setting financial contributions from billionaire donors failed to secure a Republican victory in the crucial Texas Senate contest.
Talarico's win in Texas helped solidify broader Democratic control over the United States…: Talarico's win in Texas helped solidify broader Democratic control over the United States Congress during the midterms.
Musk paired substantial financial contributions with personal attacks on his social platf…: Musk paired substantial financial contributions with personal attacks on his social platform X to target Talarico's campaign.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
- Published
Democrat James Talarico's resounding victory in the Texas Senate race caused a major upset in the midterms for Republicans - and for Elon Musk.
According to the Financial Times, external, the billionaire's political action committee (Pac) contributed $47m (£35m) to Republican candidate Ken Paxton's campaign, on top of the $158m he gave the Senate Leadership Fund in September.
The money was not enough to stop the seat from turning Democrat for the first time since 1988. In his acceptance speech, Talarico said: "We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas."
"Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn't work this time," Musk jokingly wrote on X, external.
Talarico's victory marked a key turning point in the midterms, helping solidify the Democrats' control of the US Congress in a wave of wins across the US.
Musk has increasingly made Texas the hub of his companies, from Tesla's Austin headquarters to SpaceX's Starbase launch site.
As well as backing Paxton through outside groups, the X owner took to his own platform to…
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