In recent years, Texas Republicans have enthusiastically welcomed Elon Musk and his companies to their state. Would that change when Democrats take charge of the state government?
SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST: Elon Musk moved to Texas in 2020 to avoid Democratic policies in California. And Texas Republicans welcomed him as a business partner. Now, six years later, Democrats will soon take charge of that state government. Houston Public Media's Michael Atkinson reports on what's at stake for the billionaire and the Texas economy.MICHAEL ATKINSON, BYLINE: In her first comments after her upset election night victory, Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa took jabs at the billionaires living in the Lone Star state.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)GINA HINOJOSA: There will be no special set of rules for the wealthy and well connected.ATKINSON: Texas' wealthiest resident, Elon Musk, gave $5 million directly to Hinojosa's opponent, outgoing Governor Greg Abbott, and more than 200 million to Republicans living in the state.BRANDON ROTTINGHAUS: It put him on the ballot in a way that I think was difficult for a lot of people to swallow.ATKINSON: Brandon Rottinghaus is a political science professor at the University of Houston.ROTTINGHAUS: And it hurt Republicans because his presence really did, I think, magnify these concerns.ATKINSON: Musk famously uprooted much of his life to move to Texas in 2024. And Republicans welcomed him with tax breaks and state funding. Musk's companies have invested billions of dollars and created thousands of jobs across the state. Tesla's gigafactory is in Austin. SpaceX is now headquartered in south Texas, which stirred controversy with the locals in the community after voters established the city as Starbase. Starlink and the social media company X are based 30 miles east of Austin, as is the Boring Company, a tunnel manufacturer. And now SpaceX is in the midst of developing a massive semiconductor factory east of College Station, partially using state dollars.ROYCE WEATHERSPOON: Once upon a time, you know, when we didn't know as much.ATKINSON: Royce Weatherspoon (ph) is an Austin resident who works in the tech industry, one of the drivers of the growing Texas economy.WEATHERSPOON: He did seem like this cool guy who's out there, you know, marketing his companies in a very interesting fashion.ATKINSON: In that time, Musk grew close with Texas Republicans, particularly Abbott. In July, Abbott guest hosted Sean Hannity's radio show, where he spoke with Elon Musk and called him a great Texan. Weatherspoon, who calls himself a capitalist Democrat who focuses on candidates and their policies, says it's that relationship between Musk and politicians like Abbott that became distasteful and pushed him to vote blue.WEATHERSPOON: That really cool thing becomes really tainted really quickly when we have that type of consolidation of power.ATKINSON: Hinojosa campaigned on holding elected officials accountable for their relationships with wealthy donors. In a lawsuit filed last month, she called for the release of Abbott and Musk's communications with each other. Governor-elect Hinojosa did not return NPR's request for comment about her plans and future relationship with Musk. She spoke about that relationship on CNN.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)HINOJOSA: We can have a strong working relationship with Elon Musk and his companies, but it has to be on our terms.ATKINSON: That includes already requesting a pause on the potential sale of state land to Musk and SpaceX near Starbase. James Talarico, the newly elected Democratic senator from Texas, called himself a fan of Musk's business ventures, but criticized him for getting involved in politics.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)JAMES TALARICO: He wanted a senator who was going to do his bidding, who was going to sell off Texas land to his data centers.ATKINSON: So with Democrats in power, what will Musk do? Joshua Blank, research director at the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, says if Musk were to leave Texas, that could hurt the state in the long run.JOSHUA BLANK: As much as Musk has become a bogeyman in national politics, the reality is, is that he has important businesses and important business interests in Texas.ATKINSON: Musk and SpaceX did not return NPR's requests for comment. Over the weekend, Musk did post on X that SpaceX and Tesla have, quote, "prospered in Texas because we were not constantly operating under an oppressive and extractive state government," adding that he wants to live close to his companies and factories. But he is keeping an eye on Texas and Hinojosa, including her call for a moratorium on data centers. Texas has been a significant part of SpaceX's recent growth. But the company is eyeing other locations, including in Louisiana, where it's developing a $100 billion launch site.For NPR News, I'm Michael Atkinson in Houston.(SOUNDBITE OF ALEX VAUGHN SONG, "SO BE IT")
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