Elon Musk Jokes About 'Space Lasers' After Record Midterm Spending Fails to Save Republicans

Elon Musk spent more money than anyone ever has in a single election cycle to help Republicans in the 2026 midterms. After Democrats won both the House and the Senate on Tuesday, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO responded with a joke.

“Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time,” Musk posted on X, the platform he owns, just before 1:15 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 4, according to Axios.

How much did Elon Musk spend on the 2026 election?

Estimates differ by outlet, but all put Musk’s spending in the hundreds of millions of dollars:

• The Hill: more than $442 million
• Axios: an estimated $445 million, making him the largest individual donor in modern history
• BBC News: almost $450 million
• Vanity Fair (headline): $474 million

The differences likely reflect which filings and groups each outlet counted, and final totals may change as campaign finance reports come in.

Some of the specific figures reported:

• Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC backing GOP Senate candidates, which was almost immediately passed to a Texas super PAC supporting Attorney General Ken Paxton, The Hill reported.
• He gave $76.8 million in October alone to America PAC, the super PAC he started in 2024, on top of $76 million between July and September.
• A BBC analysis found he spent at least $45 million supporting Paxton. BBC also reported spending in Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, continuing into Monday.

The Hill said the total easily surpassed what Musk put into the 2024 presidential race.

Texas flipped despite Musk’s money

Texas was the center of Musk’s effort, and it is where the results stung most. Democrat James Talarico beat Paxton for the Senate seat held by retiring Sen. John Cornyn, which The Hill described as Democrats’ first statewide win in Texas in decades. Democrat Gina Hinojosa also ousted Gov. Greg Abbott.

Musk had attacked Talarico during the campaign. “There is something deeply wrong with Talarico,” he posted in October, according to BBC News. Talarico replied: “There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator.”

Tesla and SpaceX are both headquartered in Texas, and Axios noted it is unclear how the shift in power there will affect Musk’s plans for his companies in the state.

The data center joke

Musk also posted early Wednesday that “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now.”

The comment appeared to nod at Hinojosa, who supports a moratorium on new data center construction. Opposition to fast-growing data centers, over energy costs and environmental concerns, was an issue in several races, and BBC News reported that dozens of state measures to limit data center development passed on Tuesday. Since merging SpaceX and xAI, Musk has promoted the idea of putting data centers in orbit, The Hill reported.

Musk goes quiet on politics

By Wednesday, Musk had largely stopped posting about politics, BBC News reported, and instead was posting about xAI’s chatbot. He also unpinned a post about his concerns over Democratic wins, and a “Vote red today!” post appeared to have been deleted from his profile. BBC said it had asked SpaceX for comment.

Tesla stock and Musk’s businesses

Investors sold Musk’s companies on Wednesday. Tesla closed down 3.3% and SpaceX fell about 3.9%, according to Reuters closing figures, even as the Dow jumped 3%. BBC News had reported larger declines earlier in the morning.

The business stakes may be bigger than one day’s stock move. BBC News reported that SpaceX has gained an estimated $10 billion in new government contracts since Trump returned to office, and several Democratic lawmakers have said the company’s role in government should be investigated. Sen. Ed Markey posted on X that “They are going to need to plant new forests for all of the subpoenas we’ll be printing,” in reply to a question about tech executives.

This article is for information only and is not financial advice.

Reid Hoffman’s reaction

Not every tech billionaire was on Musk’s side. LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, a major Democratic donor, said the results “blew the doors off our expectations,” according to BBC News. “While people like Elon are spending outrageous amounts to keep authoritarian clowns in power, those of us who believe in the ideals of America cannot yield,” he wrote.

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