Two years ago, Chris Gober was leading Elon Musk 's political operation. Now, the former director and top lawyer for Musk's America PAC wants a seat in Congress representing Texas' 10th District, which is home to part of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's growing business empire.
With less than a week until E lection Day , Gober isn't exactly touting his connection to the world's richest person, as he tries to secure a Republican victory in an open seat considered a safe GOP win.
The 10th District is home to the Terafab , a sprawling artificial intelligence chip factory being built by Musk's companies Tesla and SpaceX . The district also cuts through Pflugerville, which houses offices for Musk's tunneling venture, The Boring Co.
While Gober is not talking about his work for Musk as a key pillar of his campaign, his Democratic opponent Caitlin Rourk scathingly highlighted it in a new ad .
"Elon Musk already had MAGA extremist Chris Gober as his lawyer. Now he wants him in Congress," a voice on the ad says. "It's clear who Chris Gober would serve in Congress, and it's not us."
Gober's campaign website touts an endorsement from President Donald Trump , and in the "key issues" section, the candidate says he will be "standing strong for President Trump and delivering his America First Agenda" if elected.
But neither Musk's name nor that of America PAC appeared on the campaign's site as of Tuesday.
Gober, in an email from campaign manager Zach Gregory, told CNBC, "My work with America PAC has been widely reported and is no secret."
"I've discussed it throughout this campaign as one of the many examples of taking on the toughest fights at the highest levels," he said.
Gober said Musk and America PAC are not mentioned on his campaign site because it was updated in the final weeks of the election "to focus on the priorities I'm running to deliver for the people of Texas's 10th Congressional District."
SpaceX's political action committee has donated $10,000 to Gober's campaign this election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Axios first reported the filing Monday.
SpaceX has expanded aggressively into AI in 2026.
The segment has become the company's largest business unit, with third-quarter revenue surging ninefold to $7.56 billion from $813 million a year earlier, according to its Oct. 20 earnings update .
Gober's campaign website deleted a section that had been titled "Ensuring America's AI Dominance," Axios reported in its article Monday, amid opposition to data centers used for AI.
Gober told CNBC the section's removal does not reflect a shift in his position.
"I believe Texas should lead the country in AI and innovation, and that growth has to work for the communities that make it possible," he said. "That means protecting our water and power supply, building the infrastructure to support it, and making sure rural communities share in the benefits."
Rourk criticized Gober's coziness with the AI industry and Musk, saying "There's just so much to his background that is really concerning."
"I think he's trying to bury his head in the sand, and just kind of wait until Election Day, hope that people won't notice," Rourk, a U.S. Army veteran and former Dell Technologies employee, told CNBC.
"If he wins a seat in Congress, he can sit there for the next 10, 20, 30 years where he is going to vote to tether taxpayer dollars in defense to SpaceX, in transportation to Tesla and vote against anything like a subpoena of Elon Musk," she said, alluding to bipartisan worries over SpaceX's dealings in Ukraine and Democrats' calls to investigate Musk over his Department of Government Efficiency work slashing the federal workforce.
Musk did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Attacks over AI go both ways in the campaigns. Gober's campaign in a YouTube ad and in an email to CNBC claimed Rourk makes a majority of her household income from investments in data centers.
Rourk called that accusation laughable.
She said she owns some Dell stock she acquired through employee equity grants when she worked there from 2021 to 2025. Rourk said she would sell those shares, which are not a source of household income for her, if she is elected to Congress.
If elected, she said her focus would include "ending forever wars including President Trump's reckless war in Iran," and on "fighting special interests."
Asked about his opponent's accusation that he would work for Musk more than the people of Texas, Gober told CNBC, "I will make decisions based on what is best for my constituents. Period."
"I'm proud of my career and I'm not going to hide from it," he said. "I've worked at the highest levels of politics and public policy, and I intend to turn that experience into an asset for the people of Texas' 10th Congressional District."
Gober's law firm, Lex Politica, is representing Musk and his America PAC in two would-be class action lawsuits in Austin federal court that alleged Musk and the PAC defrauded people in swing states during the 2024 election by promising a daily $1 million prize for randomly selected people who signed a petition to support the U.S. Constitution and conservative causes.
Gober, during a Nov. 4, 2024 hearing in a Philadelphia courtroom held on the eve of Election Day, revealed that the 18 prizewinners were "not chosen by random, as in a lottery drawing, but that the super PAC instead selects the winners based on who it believes would be effective political spokespeople," NBC News reported at the time.
Lex Politica and other attorneys for Musk and America PAC and lawyers for the plaintiffs on Oct. 15 told the Texas judges overseeing the cases in Austin that they had agreed to settle the civil suits.
Terms of the settlement were not revealed, and Musk's PAC had denied any wrongdoing.
Gober told CNBC on Tuesday that he's "proactively working" with the House Ethics Committee to comply with all their rules, and if elected, he will "withdraw from all ongoing representations" since members of Congress are banned from practicing law outside of limited pro bono work.
Whether Musk will be a boon or detriment to Gober's campaign remains to be seen.
Ben Leff, CEO of the survey company Verasight , told CNBC in an email that his firm found that Musk is "judged by Americans through a partisan lens."
In an April survey of 2,000 U.S. adults, Verasight found that 74% of Democrats have a somewhat or very unfavorable view toward Musk, compared to 53% of Independents and 17% of Republicans.
Among Americans who identify as members of Trump's MAGA movement, 85% believe that Musk represents the movement.
"In close races, candidates who are backed by or associated with Musk might face additional challenges in an already weak election cycle for Republicans," Leff said.
