Democrats Win Key Midterm Races as Musk-Backed Republicans Lose in Texas and Ohio

Democrats won major races in the US midterm elections on Tuesday night, including the Texas Senate seat, which James Talarico was projected to win. Talarico would be the first Democrat elected to the US Senate from Texas since 1988, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott lost his re-election bid to Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, according to reports. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had spent heavily backing Republican candidates, with reported totals ranging from $446 million to a record $474 million, including about $224 million in Texas. Democrats also won all five Senate races where his America PAC spent the most. Shares of SpaceX and Tesla fell 2.5% and 3.3% on Wednesday morning.

Left-leaning outlets the Guardian and HuffPost lead with Musk's failed investment. The Guardian stresses that Musk was largely silent on election night and cites at least $446 million in spending, while HuffPost ties $158 million to Republican Ken Paxton's Senate campaign and highlights Talarico's victory speech. Right-leaning New York Post leads instead with the stock drop and Musk's own posts, joking that his election-interfering lasers had not worked, and it cites the record total, his roughly $880 billion net worth per Forbes, and his data center interests in Texas. Alternative outlets France 24 also centers on share declines and Musk-backed losses, while Semafor frames the results as a broader defeat for big money, including Republican Vivek Ramaswamy's loss in Ohio. The sides agree on Democratic wins, Musk's heavy spending and the Texas losses, but differ on spending totals and emphasis: the left calls it a poor investment, while the right calls it a blow tied to his business interests.