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Elon Musk's Political Lawyer Drew His Own Congressional District. Now He’s About to Win.

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Elon Musk's Political Lawyer Drew His Own Congressional District. Now He’s About to Win.

Musk’s Austin “compound” was in a Democratic district — until his political lawyer redrew the lines.

We’ve got exclusive reporting today on how Elon Musk’s political lawyer redrew district lines in Texas to include one of Musk’s homes there. You won’t find this anywhere else, which is why today is a good day to support our work with a paid subscription. Until the end of the day, you can get 40 percent off subscriptions to Doom with our midterm discount. You can also buy us a coffee here. Now, on to the news… - jg

The world’s richest man and his new hand-picked representative in Congress.

When the Texas legislature launched an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting plan in June 2025 to help Republicans maintain control of Congress, the redistricting chairs of both the Texas House and Senate had little involvement in drawing the new district maps.

That’s because the plan came from above: the White House directed redistricting efforts in Texas and elsewhere as the first part of the Trump administration’s long game to secure the midterm elections in Republicans’ favor.

From the start, the process of drawing Texas’ new district maps was contentious and secretive. Texas Republicans tapped the Republican National Committee to help draw the new maps. In turn, the RNC hired a Republican lawyer and political consultant named Chris Gober. Gober hired another Republican lawyer, Adam Kincaid, to draw the maps, which were criticized by Democrats and a federal judge in Texas as a racial gerrymander.

By the time the pair were done with their secretive work drawing the new maps, Texas’ 10th congressional district (CD-10) included a neighborhood that had previously been in a different district. That neighborhood is home to at least one notable resident: Elon Musk.

Gober is Musk’s de facto political lawyer, helping to launch America PAC and defending its interests in court. In June a lawyer who at the time worked for Gober’s law firm, Lex Politica, launched a national election denial non-profit, as I reported last week at Wired.

Under the previous district lines, Musk’s compound at 109 Stratford Reserve Place was in the 37th congressional district (CD-37), represented by Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat. Under Gober and Kincaid’s new lines, Musk’s Stratford Reserve property is now in CD-10.

Gober is now running to represent in CD-10 in the U.S. House of Representatives and leads his Democratic opponent, Caitlin Rourk, by seven points according to the latest polling.

Zeteo
President Donald Trump and Republicans are engaging in an all-out effort to challenge the results of next week’s midterm elections, in a desperate campaign to cling to power for the next two years – spreading unfounded fears of noncitizen voting, selectively and vindictively targeting political opponents and liberal state leaders, conducting arrests and threatening to criminally prosecute Democratic election officials, and having the Justice Department argue in court that an election isn’t legally legitimate unless Trump’s side wins it…
4 days ago · 185 likes · 5 comments · Justin Glawe and Asawin Suebsaeng

The Stratford Reserve home wasn’t the only Musk property that was drawn into the new version of CD-10. The Austin Proper Hotel, where Musk maintains a 7,000 square-foot condominium, was also moved from CD-37 to CD-10.

Scores of Musk’s shell companies are also in CD-10, although it’s unclear how many of them were drawn into the district under Gober’s work. Why would it matter if Musk’s private residences and many of his companies were moved from a congressional district represented by a Democrat to one that is expected to be represented by a Republican? Because representation matters. Musk would have likely gotten favorable treatment under any congressional Republican representing areas that are home to his personal and business interests, but that dynamic is multiplied tenfold with the election of Musk’s soon-to-be representative, Gober.

As a member of Congress, Gober will be able to bring federal dollars to the district for everything from infrastructure improvements to law enforcement resources to small business grants. The redrawing of CD-10 is also a possible symbol of the power of private interests in government. Was Musk involved in the creation of the new district? It’s not known, and part of the reason for that is because the entire redistricting process was shrouded in mystery.

Gober hired Kincaid, who was paid $5,000 under an agreement that extended some attorney-client privilege to Kincaid regarding the methodology for the secretive redistricting process.

But the connections between Gober and Musk don’t end with CD-10. In 2024, Gober’s Lex Politica helped to launch Musk’s America PAC. Gober has also represented America PAC in court, and a former Lex Politica lawyer launched a national election denial non-profit in June.

Gober has said that Lex Politica represents dozens of members of Congress, the Republican Attorney Generals Association, and both the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The firm counts Sen. Josh Hawley’s wife, Erin, among its attorneys.

Gober also runs or is involved with the defense and consulting companies Maven Defense Solutions, Maven Advocacy Partners, Vantage Compliance, Vantage Vault, and Rightside Compliance — a web of influence and possible government contracts that has yet to be examined.

When Musk’s DOGE was rampaging through the federal government at the onset of the second Trump administration, Gober’s Lex Politica represented Musk and his quasi-governmental entity in court. Rourk’s campaign maintains that Gober was not simply a lawyer hired to defend Musk and DOGE in court, but was an “architect” of the organization.

“The fact of the matter is, it was the creation and structure of DOGE that I think is critically important,” Gober told The Daily Signal in 2025.

“Even without him being there,” Gober said of Musk, “I think you’re left with a lot of the same kind of foundational elements and people with the same kind of mindset as Elon.”

Musk has spent more money this election cycle than any single person in American history — and all of it has gone toward Republicans. With untold billions in defense contracts, Musk’s fortunes rely, in large part, on a federal government run by Republicans who won’t ask questions. If Democrats win control of the House and, possibly, the Senate, Musk and his companies can expect to be the subject of sprawling congressional investigations.

But if Musk succeeds in getting Republicans elected to Congress, the money to his companies will continue to flow unabated. Unless Rourk pulls off an upset, Musk will have his personal political lawyer representing him in the House in a district drawn by the candidate himself.

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