AUSTIN, TX, Nov. 5, 2026 — Elon Musk poured a record sum into Republican midterm campaigns and still watched Democrats take both chambers of Congress, according to Associated Press and BBC reporting published after Tuesday's election.

AP's Jesse Bedayn and Barbara Ortutay wrote Thursday that Musk "spent at least $445 million in a gambit to help Republicans" and came up short. The BBC's Kali Hays and Laura Cress put the figure at "almost $450m (£334m) – more than anyone ever has in an election cycle." Launchpad is citing both outlets' tallies; campaign-finance totals can shift as filings post.

Texas was the centerpiece

Much of Musk's spending focused on Texas, where he has moved corporate headquarters for Tesla and SpaceX. Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton for a U.S. Senate seat — the first Democratic Senate win there since 1988, per multiple national tallies. The BBC said a review of campaign-finance data showed Musk spent at least $45 million in support of Paxton.

Musk posted on X in October that "There is something deeply wrong with Talarico," the BBC reported. Talarico replied: "There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator."

AP and other outlets also tracked heavy Musk-aligned spending on Texas statewide races that Democrats won, including the governor's race. Launchpad's Midday Brief is not re-litigating every Texas result; the point for readers is the scale of one donor's bet against the outcome.

Other states, then a joke about lasers

The BBC said Musk also spent millions in Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, with spending continuing into Monday before Election Day. By Tuesday night, the BBC reported, Musk joked on X that his "election-interfering space lasers didn't work."

By Wednesday he had largely stopped posting about politics and was praising xAI's GrokBot instead, the BBC wrote. A pinned post warning about Democratic midterm gains appeared to have been unpinned, and a "Vote red today!" post appeared deleted, the BBC said. The BBC said it contacted SpaceX for comment.

Why it matters for Musk's companies

Democrats' wins raise the odds of congressional scrutiny of SpaceX, Tesla, X and xAI. The BBC noted SpaceX has gained an estimated $10 billion in new government contracts since President Donald Trump's second-term win, and that several Democratic lawmakers have said the company's government and national-security role should be investigated.

In Georgia, where SpaceX has data-center operations, the newly elected Democratic governor ran in part on limiting rapid data-center growth and tax breaks, the BBC reported. Musk posted Tuesday that building data centers in space was "looking pretty appealing right now," the BBC wrote.

Sen. Ed Markey, answering a question Wednesday about investigating major tech executives, wrote on X that they would "need to plant new forests for all of the subpoenas we'll be printing," the BBC reported. Tech stocks were broadly up Wednesday morning even as Tesla and SpaceX shares fell 4.9% and 3.4% respectively that session, per the BBC.

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, a major Democratic donor, called the results "an overwhelming wave against Trump and his cronies" and said people like Musk were "spending outrageous amounts to keep authoritarian clowns in power," the BBC reported — Hoffman's words, quoted here as his opinion.

Florida angle

Musk does not have to live in Florida for the midterm math to matter here. Florida's own U.S. House map still has five uncalled races at midday (our story), and a Democratic Congress will set the oversight climate for federal agencies, contractors and tech regulation that touch Kennedy Space Center suppliers, Starlink users and Florida's growing data-center fights.

President Trump remains in office with veto power. Any major tech legislation would still need his signature. Divided government is the new baseline; Musk's spending did not prevent it.

Those are the sourced spending figures and the documented results. What they mean for the next Congress is still being written.

Sources: Associated Press; BBC; Launchpad AP election snap Nov. 5, 2026, midday.

← More National stories · All Launchpad stories · Spotted an error? Request a correction.