Talarico says victory sends message to Musk: "Texas is not for sale"

Washington — Democrat James Talarico on Wednesday said his win over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race delivered a message to Elon Musk, who spent more than $150 million to boost Paxton's candidacy: "Texas is not for sale."Hours after his projected win over Paxton, Talarico told "CBS Mornings" that his victory is an opportunity to get big money out of politics "for good.""The people of Texas delivered a crystal-clear message to the world's first trillionaire: Texas is not for sale," Talarico said. "The power in this state, in this country, belongs to the people and we've got to make sure it stays that way."The Texas Democrat said his win over Paxton is a mandate to overhaul the campaign finance system and "clean up government" to limit the influence of megadonors like Musk.The SpaceX and Tesla CEO donated more than $158 million in September to the main super PAC backing Senate Republicans in the midterm elections.

That group, the Senate Leadership Fund PAC, then disbursed that money to Texas PAC, the political organization supporting Paxton in the Senate race.Musk's trust also donated $10 million to the Lone Star Liberty PAC, which worked to get Paxton elected to the Senate.Pressed on why Musk put so much of his money into the effort to defeat Talarico, the Democrat said