A Loss Is Not a Refund
The scoreboard is extraordinary, and it is being read backwards. Elon Musk put $445 million into federal races this cycle, according to OpenSecrets, the largest sum any individual has spent on an American election. Of the 43 Republican House candidates he backed, three won and 33 lost, with seven races still uncalled when Reuters tallied it. Of the seven Senate candidates, six lost and the seventh was trailing. In Texas, where he put almost $230 million into the Senate race alone and another $5.5 million into the races below it, every candidate he backed lost. WIRED’s accounting found that of every traceable dollar he put into a decided race, more than 99 cents went to a race he lost. On election night he posted, “Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time.” ...