Elon Musk Is Trying To Buy Texas. It Might Earn Him 'Retribution.'

The trillionaire’s unprecedented political spending in the 2026 midterms could cost him in his home state of Texas if Democrats breakthrough and win in November.

Senior Political Reporter, HuffPost

Elon Musk, the world’s first and only trillionaire, is blowing away records for political donations in the 2026 cycle. As of Wednesday, he has already contributed over $446 million to super PACs supporting Republicans with most of that money being used in an attempt to rescue Ken Paxton, the scandal-plagued Republican Senate candidate in Texas.

This unheard-of political spending dwarfs that of some of the most well-known political donors in recent memory. It far exceeds the total amount of disclosed donations made by billionaire financier and right-wing boogeyman George Soros since 2004, which fall below $400 million, and comes close to the more than $500 million that billionaire casino operators Sheldon and Miriam Adelson gave across five election cycles from 2016 to 2024, according to FEC records.

But with great spending comes great scrutiny. Musk, who spent months leading one of President Donald Trump’s signature initiatives and whose businesses are closely intertwined with the federal government, was already almost certain to face investigation from House Democrats newly-armed with subpoena powers after the midterms.

And it’s increasingly looking like he may also face trouble closer to home. In Texas, where Musk moved in 2020 and relocated Tesla in 2021 and SpaceX in 2024, Democrats are noticing that the richest man in the world has put his great wealth on the scale to stop them from winning. And they’re not taking it kindly.

“What happens in a world where people wake up and Democrats have won some seats in Texas. It creates a very different political map,” said Kendall Scudder, chair of the Texas Democratic Party. “And for somebody like Elon Musk, if you think retribution isn’t on the way, you’re mistaken.”

It is entirely possible that Democrats win the governor’s race and, if things go really south for Republicans, the Texas House. If the state’s decades-long one-party rule is broken and Democrats begin to take over state government, Musk’s all-in bet on it may cost him.

Since Republicans previously put........

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