NEW YORK: Open Secrets put Elon Musk’s midterm spending on US federal races at $445 million. Yet most Republicans he backed lost Tuesday’s congressional elections.
Of the 37 House candidates he supported, three won and 33 lost. By Thursday afternoon, one contest remained undecided, although the Republican candidate led.
Meanwhile, six of the seven Senate Republicans Musk backed were defeated. In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola narrowly led the outstanding race, with 78% of votes counted.
Texas proved particularly expensive for Musk. He spent almost $230 million on its Senate race, $5 million on the governor’s contest and $500,000 on the lieutenant governor’s election.
But none of his preferred candidates won. Separately, advertising tracker AdImpact estimated total spending in the Texas Senate race at $573.2 million.
That made it the most expensive US non-presidential contest on record. Democrat James Talarico faced $153.5 million in attack advertising funded by Musk.
After winning the Senate race, Talarico addressed supporters in Austin. “Tonight we beat Goliath,” he declared. Musk’s disclosed federal donations may not reflect his full election spending.
A person familiar with his donations described further contributions through nonprofit groups with less stringent disclosure requirements.
Democrats secured control of both chambers of Congress. Their incoming majority plans to examine Musk’s companies and federal contracts more closely.
Already, Democratic lawmakers have sought information from SpaceX, the Department of Defence and the White House. Their October letters concerned restrictions on Starlink satellite service in Ukraine.
However, Musk’s political action committee, America PAC, and his lawyer Alex Spiro did not respond to requests for comment.
California Democrat Robert Garcia, the incoming House oversight chair, also plans campaign finance legislation. His proposal targets a provision that allows corporate executives to spend unlimited personal funds on elections.
(With additional input from Reuters)
