PNN – The New York Times has published a report examining how half a billion dollars of Elon Musk’s wealth was effectively squandered during the U.S. elections.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network; Elon Musk—the world’s wealthiest individual and the Republican Party’s largest financial backer—failed to prevent a crushing defeat for the Republicans, despite spending nearly $500 million on the U.S. midterm elections. This setback has cast doubt on his political influence and his capacity to shape electoral outcomes.
As reported by The New York Times, Musk spent approximately $474 million during the 2025–2026 election cycles—unprecedented sums for a donor who is not himself a candidate.
With this investment, he intended to maintain Republican control over Congress—and, in particular, to support Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate in the Texas Senate race—but the Democratic candidate, James Talarico, defeated Paxton by a 12-point margin.
A significant portion of Musk’s expenditures was directed toward election-related activities in Texas. By launching advertising campaigns and deploying thousands of field operatives, his team sought to encourage Republican-leaning voters to head to the polls. In the final three weeks of September alone, this operation involved approximately 1.7 million in-person visits to voters’ homes across Texas.
Furthermore, through political groups he backed, Musk spent tens of millions of dollars on campaigns against Talarico, placing a particular emphasis on issues such as transgender-related matters and crime. Ultimately, however, these efforts proved unsuccessful, and the Democratic candidate won by a margin that exceeded expectations.
Citing individuals close to Musk’s election operation, The New York Times reported that some of his advisors believed an excessive focus on mobilizing traditional Republican voters—while neglecting to attract new ones—was a key misstep of the campaign. Furthermore, there were disagreements between Musk’s team and Trump’s advisors regarding spending and election strategy.
The Republican defeat, particularly in Texas, could now expose Musk to political pressure and congressional investigations led by Democrats. This setback also raises fresh questions regarding the extent of his political influence and the effectiveness of the vast sums he spent in an attempt to sway the outcome of U.S. elections.
Musk was one of the primary financial backers of Trump’s 2024 election victory, and his company, SpaceX, has served as a key contractor for U.S. space programs since 2018. Luckey is the founder of the defense firm Anduril and a major financial supporter of Republican candidates.
In this context, following the Republicans’ disastrous defeat in the U.S. midterm elections, Musk deleted several of his campaign-related posts that had expressed support for the party from his personal account.
According to The Washington Post, Musk posted a message on Election Day urging users to vote for Republicans. Furthermore, a few days prior to the election—in a post pinned to his profile—he warned that a Democratic victory in the 2028 presidential election could lead to sweeping political changes in the United States, and called on voters to support Republican candidates.
Democrats had previously vowed to investigate Musk’s activities should they secure a majority in Congress.
The 2026 midterm elections proved to be a sweeping defeat for Trump and the Republican Party. Democrats made gains not only in national contests but also in states that had long been considered reliable Republican strongholds. The defeat of Trump-backed candidates, the loss of key seats, and the failure to maintain influence among rural and Latino voters indicate that this electoral wave went beyond a typical shift in Congress; it amounted to an explicit rejection of Trump’s performance during his second presidential term.