The key facts

  • Tesla fell 2.6% and SpaceX 2.1% after the Democrats' victory in the midterm elections
  • Musk spent, per a Financial Times estimate, about $446 million supporting Republicans
  • Democrats won both races in Texas, including the governorship

Share prices fall after the election

Shares in Tesla and SpaceX declined on Wednesday after the Democratic Party won control of both chambers of the US Congress — the House of Representatives and the Senate — in the midterm elections. By 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, Tesla had lost 2.6% and SpaceX 2.1%. The earlier decline, according to the Anadolu outlet, reduced Musk's estimated fortune by more than $60 billion.

Musk's investments and the defeat in Texas

Musk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, spent, according to a Financial Times estimate cited by Anadolu, about $446 million supporting Republicans in the midterm elections. A significant share of those funds went to Texas, where both companies are headquartered. Both of Musk's endorsed candidates at the state level lost: Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton in the race for a US Senate seat, while Democrat Gina Inohosa unseated Republican Greg Abbott as governor of Texas.

What Inohosa's victory means for SpaceX

During the campaign, Inohosa demanded a halt to the construction of new data centers until state legislators give local communities a say in where they are located, and she also pressed operators to confirm that the projects would not raise residents' electricity and water bills. In July she said that data centers were 'drinking all our water, drinking all our electricity.' This directly affects SpaceX's plans to expand data center capacity at its Starbase complex in southern Texas. In addition, according to Anadolu's assessment, Democratic control of both chambers could bring closer a congressional review of any Musk effort to merge Tesla and SpaceX.