The New Jersey Democrat running against Elon Musk

But Altman has made Musk into a major foe in a way that no other Democrat has, even as some in the party fret that the billionaire entrepreneur, who founded both Tesla and SpaceX, has a certain appeal to some voters. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania recently likened Musk to Tony Stark from the comic “Iron Man,” saying that Musk is a “bigger star than Trump” to voters in places like Scranton.

“My job is to represent the people of this district, to run a campaign that represents the values of this district, and if I see someone meddling in that, I’m going to call it out,” Altman said, defending her approach. “Having lots and lots of money does not equal cool.”

While Musk may appear “cool” to some voters, Altman and other Democrats are betting that he can be made into the next big boogeyman for Democrats, a role previously occupied by the Koch brothers. Musk has also done plenty to make himself into a boogeyman for the left, including leaning into conspiracy theories about immigration and Jews while recently wondering aloud why no one had tried to assassinate Harris or President Joe Biden.

There’s some evidence that the opportunity is ripe to make for Democrats to make Musk into a villain. A September poll from NBC News found that just 6% of Democrats had a positive view of the billionaire.

“Even if somebody admires Elon Musk’s contribution to technology — and I still don’t even find many of those people — they don’t think that means he should extend his power to influencing our elections here at home,” said Altman.

“And by the way, Elon Musk is really creepy,” she added, referencing a recent post in which Musk offered to give Taylor Swift “a child” after the pop star endorsed Harris. “I wouldn’t let my best friend date Elon Musk, let alone let him buy our elections.”