Elon Musk’s run for Travis County District Attorney in Texas lost on Tuesday, hours after Tesla The CEO sent a company-wide email urging employees to follow suit.
Jeremy Celestin, the Democratic challenger to incumbent Jose Garza, was defeated early on Super Tuesday, with Garza winning by over 30 points. Musk appears to have deleted his post on social media site X endorsing Sylestine.
Sylestine is running on a platform to prosecute more cases, invest in public safety initiatives and rely on more trials. Musk, who moved from California to Texas several years ago and subsequently moved Tesla’s headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin, has become increasingly vocal on politics and reportedly met with former President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.
Texas is also home to a large SpaceX facility and The Boring Company, two of Musk’s other companies.
Musk wrote on X Wednesday that he “will not directly donate money” to any of the 2024 presidential candidates, but he and his companies have contributed to political action committees and campaign committees in the past, according to records released on OpenSecrets.org.
Here’s what Musk wrote to employees on Tuesday in an email obtained by CNBC.
By: Elon Musk
For everyone
Date: March 5, 2024
This mainly applies if you live in the greater Austin area, but if you do, please vote today for a new District Attorney who will actually prosecute crimes. It’s high time for change all over the world!
Musk included a link to his since-deleted X post, which read: “Sorry to bother everyone with this memo as it pertains to the people of greater Austin, but please go to the polls and vote for a new District Attorney! “
Musk then sent a second company-wide email that read: “It’s worth noting that Jeremy Celestin is a moderate Democrat, not a Republican. He’s running against a far-left incumbent in the primary.”
Bloomberg was the first to report on Musk’s emails.
Sylestine did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Tesla operates its largest auto assembly plant in the U.S. in Travis County, home of Austin.
While Musk presents himself as an independent voter who has previously supported presidential candidates, including his friend Yeahformerly known as Kanye West, and Andrew Young, his public political commentary has drifted to the right for years. In a flurry of X posts on Tuesday, he accused President Joe Biden of “treason” without providing evidence.
Musk endorsed Texas Republican Myra Flores in her race for Congress in 2022. Now he’s backing Marty O’Donnell, a composer of music for popular video games, who is running as a Republican for Congress in Nevada.
“I hope more people like Marty run for office,” Musk wrote on X on Tuesday, echoing a post from O’Donnell.
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https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/06/elon-musk-endorsed-jeremy-sylestine-for-travis-county-da-lost-tuesday.html