View: How big money lost the 2026 midterms

Elon Musk’s record midterm spending and Vivek Ramaswamy’s run for Ohio governor both failed on election night, and the AI buildout now faces its own political reckoning. After the presidential election exactly two years ago, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy rode into Washington as protagonists of a new type of politics, running the short-lived Department of Government Efficiency. Last night, both suffered the worst defeats of their political careers. Musk had moved many of his businesses to Texas and spent more than $200 million to hold the state for Republicans — part of a 2026 blitz that dwarfs any political spending by a single donor in a single election cycle — with returns that were diminishing, if not outright negative. Senate candidate Ken Paxton’s numbers faded the more Musk spent. Ramaswamy lost his bid for Ohio governor, where his Republican predecessor won four years ago by 25 points, a bigger swing than can be explained by Trump’s unpopularity and the blue wave that crested nearly everywhere. The two seemed to embody a new type of hard-edged conservative politics that lives at the intersection of Twitter and money, driven by wealthy and successful businessmen who believed