Elon Musk’s record election bet backfired. The backlash may reach beyond one billionaire

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attends the Golden Age of American Innovation Summit at the Institute of Peace on Oct. 8, 2026 in Washington, DC.Win McNamee | Getty ImagesDemocrats' sweeping midterms victory marked a major rejection of Elon Musk and the artificial-intelligence industry, as a broad backlash against U.S. President Donald Trump and his tech allies put their political influence — and the debt-fueled data center buildout — under sharper scrutiny.Musk, who spent a record of at least $474 million on the midterms, funneled $224 million, or nearly half, into Texas alone, according to a CNBC analysis of campaign finance records, only to see his favored candidates, Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott, trounced in a Democratic wave.The defeats rattled markets overnight, sending SpaceX and Tesla shares lower, both of which have long flourished under Abbott's business-friendly policies. Meanwhile, broader tech stocks came under pressure as Democrats secured control of Congress. Across the country, voters pushed back against billionaire influence and the growing power of technology companies, electing critics of the AI industry and approving restrictions on d...