Musk jokes about space lasers after Texas GOP rout
The billionaire donated nearly $500 million to Republican causes this cycle, yet Democrats won key statewide races in Texas on Tuesday.
By Vikram Harrison ·
Elon Musk posted a sarcastic comment on X on Wednesday morning, suggesting his "election-interfering space lasers" failed to secure victories for Republicans. The billionaire owns the social media platform where he shared the remark with a shrug emoji. This followed a decisive shift in Texas politics where Democrats captured several major statewide offices.
Musk contributed nearly half a billion dollars to Republican political efforts during the 2026 midterm election cycle. Campaign finance data from Agence France-Presse confirms these figures. OpenSecrets identifies him as the largest individual contributor in a federal election cycle since the 2010 Citizens United decision. Much of this funding flowed to his America PAC and the Senate Leadership Fund.
In September, Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund. That money supported Attorney General Ken Paxton's campaign for the U.S. Senate. Paxton lost the race to Democrat James Talarico. Talarico became the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Texas since 1988.
During his victory speech in Austin, Talarico acknowledged the financial power opposing his campaign. He said, "In this race, we went up against our own Goliaths. The richest man in the world, the most powerful man in the world and the entire Washington, DC establishment." The loss marked the end of decades of Republican dominance in that specific seat.
Other major Texas races also flipped to the Democrats. Gina Hinojosa defeated incumbent Governor Greg Abbott. She is the first Democrat elected Texas governor since Ann Richards won in 1990. Musk had contributed $5 million to support Abbott's reelection bid. Democrats also took control of the lieutenant governor and attorney general races.
Musk's companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and X, have headquarters in Texas. He also posted a separate message stating that "Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now." This comment arrives as political debate grows over the energy and water usage of large artificial intelligence facilities. Talarico campaigned for tighter oversight of these projects, while Hinojosa called for a moratorium on new construction.
Nationally, Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress on Tuesday. This result poses a challenge for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Musk did not elaborate on whether his space data center comment reflected a change in his corporate plans. His public response to the election night results remained a joke.
