Democrats' midterm sweep hits SpaceX, Tesla and space stocks
From the Space digest for Nov 4, 2026
Sources Business Insider TIKR Science Committee Democrats, via Jeff Foust
What happened: Shares in Tesla and SpaceX fell at market open after Democrats won a string of midterm victories, including the Texas races where both companies are based — James Talarico won the Senate seat over Ken Paxton and Gina Hinojosa unseated Governor Greg Abbott. The two companies shed more than $100 billion in combined market value in the drop, after Elon Musk spent roughly $224 million backing Republican candidates in Texas — including $158 million in September alone — and at least $446 million overall, according to figures reported by Business Insider. On X, Musk called SpaceX's plan to build data centers in space "pretty appealing right now," adding, "Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn't work this time." The selloff spread across space names: Rocket Lab fell 4%, AST SpaceMobile 4% and Planet Labs 6% (TIKR) — odd for Rocket Lab, which competes with SpaceX and whose analysts expect revenue to nearly triple from 2025 to 2028, with its November 9 earnings report expected to yield a Neutron launch date after the first flight slipped into 2027 on October 14. In the Congress Democrats won, House Science Committee ranking member Zoe Lofgren announced she will seek the committee's chairmanship, saying she would work to stop the politicization of science (Science Committee Democrats, via Jeff Foust).
What's genuinely new: The market verdict on the election — sized share drops across SpaceX, Tesla, Rocket Lab, AST SpaceMobile and Planet Labs — plus the scale of Musk's Texas spending and the two companies' losses topping $100 billion in combined value.
Watch: congressional oversight of Musk's federal contracts under the new controlling party, Rocket Lab's November 9 report and any Neutron date it brings, and how Starbase regulation in Austin changes hands.