Musk's Unpopularity Reaffirmed as GOP Loses His Texas Home Base, Leaving Him 'Out in the Cold' [U.S. Midterms]

[Financial News]  

Elon Musk, who went all out to help Republicans in the U.S. midterms—particularly to defend their hold on Texas—was left out in the cold.
That was because Republicans suffered a crushing defeat, ceding key areas, including Texas, as well as other major strongholds to the Democrats.
Above all, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's bid for a fourth consecutive term falling short, Musk's business is also expected to take a significant hit. It had flourished after he established a new base in Texas, aided by Abbott's Musk-friendly policies.
In the wake of the results, Tesla and SpaceX shares fell sharply on the 4th (local time), in contrast to Big Tech stocks, which rose.
Meanwhile, after the election defeat in Texas, Musk said on his social media platform X on the 4th, "Space data centers are now more attractive."

According to CNBC, Musk donated at least $474 million (about 636 billion won) to Republicans in this midterm election. Nearly half of that—$224 million (about 300 billion won)—went to Texas races.
The goal was for Gov. Abbott to defeat Democratic candidate Ken Paxton, win a fourth consecutive term, and block a Democratic "blue wave" in Texas.
But Abbott lost to Paxton, and Texas went to the Democrats.
Texas has become Musk's home base.
In December 2021, Tesla moved its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, Texas. In June 2024, it also moved its place of incorporation from Delaware to Texas.
SpaceX also moved its headquarters, previously in Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas, in July 2024. Earlier that year, in February, it moved its place of registration from Delaware to Texas.

The midterm elections also revealed public antipathy toward tech billionaires, including Musk, who has received strong backing from President Donald Trump.
They also reflected opposition to Big Tech, which is expanding its influence with the president's backing.
Big Tech companies are borrowing vast sums to build artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. The large data centers rapidly mushrooming across the United States to support this are guzzling local power and water, creating noise pollution, and provoking opposition from residents.
This was also one reason Democratic candidates who pledged to slow the pace of AI data center construction made gains in the election.
Democrat James Talarico, who won the Texas U.S. Senate race, did not mention Musk by name in his victory speech but delivered a pointed rebuke aimed at him. Talarico said, "We need to get big money out of our politics," adding, "That way, no billionaire or trillionaire can buy our elections." He went on to say, "We have to dismantle this economic system that benefits only the top 1 percent."
JC Linczenich, an exchange senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said that Musk had poured enormous sums into the Texas election but Republicans had lost, calling it "a clear rejection by voters of the Musk-style political element that had made inroads into Trump's core camp."
[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter