Elon Musk’s endorsement for district attorney of Texas’ Travis County faced a setback on Tuesday, as his pick, Jeremy Sylestine, lost the election to incumbent José Garza by over 30 points. This defeat followed Musk’s companywide email encouraging employees to support Sylestine, which he seemingly removed from his social media endorsement on the X platform.
Sylestine campaigned on a platform advocating for increased prosecution, investment in public safety initiatives, and a greater reliance on jury trials. Musk, who relocated Tesla’s headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin, Texas, and has been more vocal about political matters, recently met with former President Donald Trump in Florida.
Apart from Tesla, Texas is also home to major facilities of SpaceX and The Boring Company, two other ventures of Musk’s.
In a subsequent X post on Wednesday, Musk clarified that he wouldn’t directly contribute funds to any presidential candidate in 2024. However, records from OpenSecrets.org show contributions from Musk and his companies to various political action and campaign committees in the past.
Musk provided a link to his now-deleted X post urging support for Sylestine, saying, “Sorry to bother everyone with this note as it applies to people in the greater Austin area, but please go to the polls and vote for a new District Attorney!” He then sent another companywide email emphasizing Sylestine’s moderate Democratic stance.
Tesla operates its largest U.S. vehicle assembly plant in Travis County, Austin.
Despite presenting himself as an independent voter in the past, Musk’s recent political commentary has leaned towards the right. He accused President Joe Biden of “treason” in a series of X posts on Tuesday, though without providing evidence.
In 2022, Musk supported Texas Republican Mayra Flores in her congressional race, and now he’s endorsing Marty O’Donnell, a video game music composer, running as a Republican for Congress in Nevada.
“I hope more people like Marty run for office,” Musk reiterated on X, sharing a post from O’Donnell
