Elon Musk among biggest losers of US midterms after spending nearly $500m

Billionaire Elon Musk is one of the biggest losers of the US midterms, after Democrats seized both chambers of Congress and Texas elected its first Democratic governor in more than three decades.

NBC News, citing Reuters, reports that Musk spent nearly half a billion dollars backing Republican candidates. Gina Hinojosa defeated Greg Abbott in the governor’s race, dealing a rebuke to President Donald Trump.

Shares of SpaceX fell 3.8% in premarket trading, while Tesla was down 3.6%.

Analysts expect Democrats to tighten scrutiny of data-center projects, which are crucial to SpaceX’s AI plans. “A Democratic sweep of Congress would put pressure on tech and potentially bring regulatory pressure on everything AI and possibly slow down the wild, wild west growth figures that we see daily and often take for granted,” said Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management.

Robert Garcia, the next House Oversight Committee chair, told Republicans and their allies: “Lawyer up.”

Hinojosa has also opposed a potential sale of a beachfront state park to SpaceX. “Let me be clear: Texas is not for sale,” she said last month.