# Musk-backed Republicans lost most decided races despite over $400m in spending

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/voters-set-400-million-of-elon-musks-money-on-fire/
- Published: 2026-11-04T17:18:08+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T17:40:16+00:00
- Original publisher: Wired
- Original article: https://www.wired.com/story/voters-set-dollar400-million-of-elon-musks-money-on-fire/
- Topics: Elections, Politics

## Key points

- Musk-backed candidates lost most decided races.
- Democrats won Texas’s Senate and governor races.
- Musk’s traceable spending overwhelmingly backed losing campaigns.

## Summary

The latest results show that Democrats also won the Texas governor’s race, with Gina Hinojosa defeating Greg Abbott, giving them greater influence over state policies affecting Elon Musk’s businesses. The outcome deepens the setback for Musk, whose large contributions to Republican campaigns have yielded few victories.

By Wednesday morning, candidates backed by Musk’s America PAC had lost 20 races and won one, with 21 still uncalled; more than 99 per cent of his traceable spending in decided races went to losers. Musk and his PAC spent over $400 million backing Republicans, including nearly $87 million on adverts in 42 races, while he also gave more than $229 million to other political groups. In Texas, groups funded by Musk spent about $195 million on the Senate contest, which Democrat James Talarico won; Democrats are also set to oversee more than $1.6 billion in tax incentives relevant to Musk’s Texas operations.

## Coverage

- [Wired: Musk-backed Republicans lost most decided races despite over $400m in spending](https://www.wired.com/story/voters-set-dollar400-million-of-elon-musks-money-on-fire/)
- [Engadget: Elon Musk spent nearly $500 million on the midterms and lost big-time](https://www.engadget.com/2306698/elon-musk-spent-nearly-500-million-on-the-midterms-and-lost-bigtime/)

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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.