Texas v Musk: how southern state Democrats won against the billionaire – explainer

Democrat James Talarico won a Senate seat in Texas, breaking a 38-year drought for his party in the Republican stronghold and delivering a stunning blow to Donald Trump. The race became one of the most expensive Senate contests in US history, with advertising spending topping $500m, according to estimates. GOP-aligned groups poured hundreds of millions of dollars into efforts to elect Ken Paxton, including substantial funding linked to multibillionaire Elon Musk, whom Talarico accused of trying to buy a Senate seat.

• Elon Musk’s nearly half a billion dollars in midterms spending was a flop

• Five dimensional chess: inside James Talarico’s extraordinary bid to break Texas Democrats’ losing streak