The US midterm elections on November 3, 2026, concluded as one of the most painful defeats for the Republican Party in recent decades: the Democratic Party won majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, seizing control of Congress and dealing a severe blow to President Donald Trump's political agenda. Reaction to the outcome was swift, even from those who invested record-breaking sums in US history into the Republican campaign.
"Space lasers didn't work this time"
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who became the largest individual donor to federal elections since the introduction of unlimited spending rules in 2010, commented on the election outcome with an ironic social media post: "Looks like my space lasers for election interference didn't work this time," accompanied by a shrugging emoji. According to OpenSecrets, an organization that tracks campaign finance, Musk donated nearly half a billion dollars to Republican initiatives, making him the record-holder for private investment in federal elections.
Money against Goliath
Most of the funds were channeled into America PAC, a committee created by the entrepreneur, and the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), a Republican super PAC. In September, the SLF deployed Musk's funds to support Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate candidate from Texas and a close Trump ally. However, Democrat James Talarico unexpectedly pulled off an upset, becoming the first Democratic candidate to win a statewide election in Texas since 1994. At a victory rally in Austin, Talarico directly addressed the billionaire: "In this race, we took on Goliaths—the richest man in the world, the most powerful man in the world, and the entire political establishment in Washington D.C."
Defeat not just for Musk
Republican losses proved widespread: in Ohio, biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, who invested about $36 million of his own money into the campaign, lost the gubernatorial race to Democrat Amy Acton; in Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican Rick Jackson; in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott, starting with $105.7 million, conceded defeat to Democrat Gina Hinojosa. The evening was also a disappointment for artificial intelligence industry political committees: American Mission, backed by OpenAI President Greg Brockman and Andreessen Horowitz, spent about $2.7 million on Senator Darlene Graham in South Carolina, but she lost to Democrat Annie Andrews even in a state where Trump won by 18 points in the 2024 elections.
Analysts' verdict
"I think this is probably the biggest failure for billionaires investing in American politics in history," Logan Phillips, founder of the election forecasting site Race to the White House, told Fortune magazine. According to him, a series of Supreme Court rulings "opened the door" for billionaires and political committees to spend money virtually without restriction, yet "Democrats still win these elections"s.
