\n<\/p>\n
In addition to Musk\u2019s control over the company, Starbase is expected to be overseen by three people with longstanding connections with SpaceX, all of whom ran unopposed and without much electoral flair.<\/p>\n
The Texas Tribune, along with the nonprofit Sunlight Research Center, reviewed<\/a> the three candidates\u2019 public records and social media to understand who will govern the newly designated area.<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been no signs of a traditional campaign along the Boca Chica Beach region in South Texas,\u201d the Tribune\u2019s Berenice Garcia<\/strong> wrote on Friday. \u201cNo yard signs. No campaign websites. No candidate forums.\u201d<\/p>\n Only one person ran for Mayor of Starbase: Robert \u201cBobby\u201d Peden<\/strong>. Peden is in his mid-thirties, has worked for SpaceX for over a decade, and contributed $5,000 to SpaceX\u2019s political action committee in December.<\/p>\n Jenna Petrzelka<\/strong> and Jordan Buss<\/strong> ran to be the two commissioners for Starbase. Petrzelka, whose husband also works at SpaceX, started at the company in 2012 and rose to manager of operations engineering at Starbase, a role she had for about a year leading up to last summer. On campaign documents, she listed herself as a \u201cphilanthropist.\u201d In 2022, she volunteered at Good Neighbor Settlement House, a local nonprofit assisting migrants and the homeless community.<\/p>\n Buss, a senior director of Environmental Health and Safety for SpaceX, has worked at the company since 2023. That year, he made a $600 political contribution to the SpaceX PAC.<\/p>\n After Saturday\u2019s vote to create the city of Starbase, the three candidates win automatically.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s incorporation comes as both a professional and personal win for Musk, who has faced backlash from Americans across the country for his actions heading up the Department of Government Efficiency since President Donald Trump<\/strong> took office just over a hundred days ago.<\/p>\n In addition to nationwide protests<\/a> against Musk at Tesla facilities and his involvement<\/a> in gutting key federal funding programs, multiple polls have illustrated<\/a> broad disapproval for the billionaire\u2019s growing influence in Washington.<\/p>\n