Elon Musk emailed Tesla, $TSLA, employees, per Bloomberg, asking them to vote for a new district attorney in Austin who will “actually prosecute crimes"

Elon Musk emailed Tesla, $TSLA, employees, per Bloomberg, asking them to vote for a new district attorney in Austin who will “actually prosecute crimes.”


Elon Musk's favored candidate for the district attorney position in Travis County, Texas, lost the election on Tuesday, despite Musk's endorsement. Jeremy Sylestine, a Democratic challenger running against incumbent José Garza, was defeated, with Garza winning by a significant margin. Musk had endorsed Sylestine on the social media site X, but later deleted his post.

Sylestine's platform included promises to prosecute more cases, invest in public safety initiatives, and rely more on jury trials. Musk, who moved from California to Texas and relocated Tesla's headquarters to Austin, has become more vocal about politics. He reportedly met with former President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.

Texas is also home to major facilities for SpaceX and The Boring Company, two other companies owned by Musk.

In a post on X, Musk stated that he would not directly donate money to any presidential candidate in 2024. However, records on OpenSecrets.org show that he and his companies have contributed to political action committees and campaign committees in the past.

Musk shared a link to his deleted post on X urging people to vote for a new District Attorney and clarified in a follow-up email that Sylestine is a moderate Democrat, not a Republican, running against a far-left incumbent in the primary.

Tesla operates its largest U.S. vehicle assembly plant in Travis County, which includes Austin.