Tesla and SpaceX Shares Fall After Musk-Backed Candidates Lose in Texas Midterms

Shares of Elon Musk's Tesla and SpaceX fell Wednesday after Democrats won major midterm races, including in Texas, where candidates he backed lost. Reports put his Republican spending between about $440 million and $474 million, with roughly $224 million in Texas. In Texas, James Talarico became the first Democrat elected to the US Senate from the state since 1988, and Gov. Greg Abbott lost re-election to Rep. Gina Hinojosa. One report said Senate candidate Ken Paxton also lost. Reported declines varied: Tesla fell 3.3% to nearly 6% and SpaceX 2.5% to more than 5%. Stock futures had slid Tuesday night, with Nasdaq 100 futures down as much as 2.5% before partly recovering. Musk posted on X that data centers in space looked appealing and joked that his "election-interfering space lasers" had failed. Some Democrats have signaled they may investigate Musk once they control Congress. Musk has said he wants to merge Tesla and SpaceX in a deal valued around $3.5 trillion, which would need state and federal approval.

Left-leaning outlets frame it through politics and markets. NBC News leads with the wider market reaction, quoting Evercore's Sarah Bianchi on a "blue tsunami" and JPMorgan analysts on possible tech regulation, data-center limits, higher taxes and investigation risk for CEOs close to Trump. The New York Times headline ties the stock drop to Musk's Texas losses and notes Democrats' signaled investigations. Right-leaning outlets center Musk. The Daily Mail stresses his $445 million spending and the merger, while the New York Post highlights his $474 million, his $880 billion net worth, Talarico and Hinojosa, his data-center interests and his jokes. All agree on the Democratic wins and the share drops; they differ on spending totals, percentage declines and emphasis. France 24 largely matches this account, citing over $440 million.