# Musk’s $47m Texas campaign fails as Paxton loses to Talarico

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/17-better-ways-elon-musk-could-have-wasted-446-million/
- Published: 2026-11-04T21:45:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T22:19:06+00:00
- Original publisher: The Verge
- Original article: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1026878/not-even-good-at-being-rich
- Topics: Culture, Food

## Key points

- Musk’s PAC spent $47 million opposing Talarico.
- Talarico won 55 per cent of the vote.
- The article links the loss to public discontent with tech.

## Summary

Elon Musk’s America PAC spent heavily in Texas midterm elections, but its preferred Senate candidate, Ken Paxton, lost to Democrat James Talarico, who won 55 per cent of the vote. The article argues that Musk’s defeat reflects a wider gap between the political views circulating on X and public opposition to the technology industry, particularly the expansion of data centres.

The PAC spent $47 million trying to defeat Talarico, as part of nearly $500 million Musk put towards the elections. Talarico’s campaign used the slogan “Texas is not for sale”, and the result helped elect politicians who had campaigned against Musk’s influence, including the governor and attorney general. The article contrasts the spending with a satirical list of alternative purchases, from a private island to thousands of graphics cards.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.