James Talarico Shades Elon Musk on ‘The View,’ Says Texas Results Sent a Message to ‘The World’s First Trillionaire’

Skip to content “I think now that we have a win the size of Texas, we have a mandate the size of Texas,” the senator-elect says November 4, 2026 @ 9:32 AM Rep. James Talarico on "The View" (ABC/YouTube) James Talarico was one of the several big upset winners in Tuesday night’s midterms, scoring Democrats a Senate seat in Texas of all places. Stopping by “The View” on Wednesday morning, the senator-elect argued that his win sent “a crystal clear message” to Elon Musk. In total, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO donated approximately $224 million to PACs backing Senate Republicans in the midterm elections, and specifically dispersed the funds to Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate in Texas. The hosts of “The View” were quick to point out that Musk’s spending made it one of the most expensive Senate races in history. “Well, I think we sent a crystal clear message to the world’s first trillionaire: Texas is not for sale,” Talarico declared. “In this state, in this country, power belongs to the people. And I think now that we have a win the size of Texas, we have a mandate the size of Texas, and we got to get big money out of our politics.” “We got to prevent any billionaire, any trillionaire from buying elections, we got to make sure that we have a government of by and for people again, instead of a government by and for mega-donors like Elon Musk.” Talarico stressed that he intends to work with both parties once he gets to the Senate in January, aiming to help tackle the issue of affordability facing voters in America right now. The senator wasn’t the only big win in Texas on Tuesday though, as Gina Hinojosa also defeated incumbent governor Greg Abbott.