What a Blue Texas Means for Elon Musk’s Future

Newsweek · Jesus Mesa · 2026-11-05 11:00 UTC

Democrats’ Texas sweep puts Elon Musk’s tax breaks, data centers and Starbase land under new scrutiny from Gina Hinojosa.

Elon Musk left California for Texas, hoping to put Democratic regulators behind him. But after Tuesday's election, the Tesla CEO may find that the political climate he moved to escape is catching up with him in the state he now calls home.

Democrats won every statewide executive office in Texas, flipped the state House for the first time in more than two decades and elected Gina Hinojosa governor, the first Democrat to win the office since Ann Richards in 1990. State Representative James Talarico beat Republican Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate race by more than 12 points.

Musk, the richest man in the world and largest Republican donor this cycle, spent heavily to stop it. He gave nearly half a billion dollars to Republican groups nationally, with at least $168 million going to ads backing Paxton. Governor Greg Abbott's campaign alone got $5.5 million from him.

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