Musk Didn't Even Vote in Midterms He Cared So Much About - The Daily Beast

Elon Musk, who implored his service of Twitter followers to ballot Republican successful the 2022 midterms, did not ballot successful the election, authorities records show.

The billionaire is registered successful Cameron County, Texas, wherever his rocket institution SpaceX has a motorboat basal and improvement site. Musk lists a humble location arsenic his residence, though helium has been known to walk clip astatine different luxury properties.

Musk’s governmental advocacy accelerated past spring, astir the clip helium was maneuvering to acquire Twitter. “In the past I voted Democrat, due to the fact that they were (mostly) the kindness party. But they person go the enactment of part & hate, truthful I tin nary longer enactment them and volition ballot Republican,” helium tweeted successful May.

Later that month, helium added, “Given unprovoked attacks by starring Democrats against maine & a precise acold enarthrosis to Tesla & SpaceX, I mean to ballot Republican successful November.”

Then, successful June, Musk announced that helium had voted for Republican Mayra Flores successful the peculiar predetermination successful Texas’ 34th Congressional District. Flores, who won the race, had been accused of spreading the QAnon conspiracy connected societal media and had baselessly tried to blasted the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots connected left-wing activists. (She aboriginal deleted immoderate of the comments and said she did not enactment QAnon.)

“First clip I ever voted Republican,” Musk declared astatine the time. “Massive reddish question successful 2022.”

He again tried to rally enactment for the GOP earlier the November elections. “Shared powerfulness curbs the worst excesses of some parties, truthful I urge voting for a Republican Congress, fixed that the Presidency is Democratic,” helium tweeted connected Nov. 7. Musk has separately insisted that helium identifies arsenic a centrist who supports “the near fractional of the Republican Party and the close fractional of the Democratic Party.”

Ultimately, Republicans narrowly recaptured the House, failing to present the forecasted reddish wave. Flores mislaid her re-election bid by much than 10,000 votes.

State and section records amusement that Musk did not ballot for her—or anyone. He did ballot during Flores' contention successful June, records show, and besides antecedently formed an absentee ballot successful the 2020 elections.

“Based connected our records, we bash not person immoderate denotation that Mr. Musk participated successful the November 2022 Election successful Cameron County,” the county’s predetermination head told The Daily Beast.

The authoritative added that Musk could not person voted successful different county, since that would person triggered the cancellation of his archetypal registration.

An authoritative successful the Texas Secretary of State’s Office confirmed that Musk is lone registered to ballot successful Cameron County, noting that immoderate changes would amusement up successful authorities databases. The office’s records besides showed that Musk did not ballot successful the midterms.

That doesn’t mean the billionaire has been politically neutral. Shortly aft acquiring Twitter successful precocious October, helium tweeted—then deleted—a nexus to a fringe conspiracy astir the convulsive onslaught connected Nancy Pelosi’s husband.

More recently, Musk released interior Twitter documents successful a spectacle dubbed the “Twitter Files,” which purportedly showed a conspiratorial effort by the platform’s staffers to suppress accusation astir Hunter Biden’s laptop anterior to the 2020 election. More realistically, the documents showed that Twitter’s employees were conflicted astir however to code the story, which galore believed whitethorn person been ginned up arsenic an enactment of overseas electoral interference. (Yoel Roth, Twitter’s erstwhile caput of spot and safety, has acknowledged it was a mistake to censor the allegations.)

Musk has continuously engaged with right-wing Twitter users successful caller weeks. And if determination were lingering doubts astir his governmental leanings, connected Dec. 11, helium attacked Anthony Fauci, manager of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who helped steer the country’s effect to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” helium tweeted.

The billionaire did not instantly respond to requests for remark connected his voting record.