Republican outside groups are pouring tens of millions of dollars into the Texas Senate race, dramatically increasing their support for GOP nominee Ken Paxton after Democratic opponent James Talarico spent much of the summer with a substantial financial advantage. The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC affiliated with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, entered the Texas general-election contest Friday through a newly created group called Texas PAC.
Texas PAC purchased an initial package of roughly $32 million in broadcast television advertising across the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Austin media markets, according to the advertising-tracking firm AdImpact. The investment represents a major shift for national Republican groups, which had largely stayed out of the Texas contest following Paxton’s victory over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary.
Until recently, Talarico had enjoyed a sizable advantage on television. Since June, Democrats had outspent Republicans roughly 7-to-1 in the race, with Talarico’s campaign spending more than $30 million on advertising while Paxton and Republican-aligned groups spent only a fraction of that amount. That disparity is now rapidly disappearing.
MAGA Inc., the super PAC aligned with President Donald Trump, recently committed $10 million to supporting Paxton and opposing Talarico. Elon Musk’s America PAC has spent another $2.6 million on phone calls, text messages and printed advertising supporting Paxton and attacking Talarico.
Including advertising already aired and reservations extending through the end of September, Republican groups have now committed approximately $60.8 million in Texas, according to AdImpact figures reported by The Texas Tribune. Democratic spending during the same period totaled approximately $43.7 million, almost all of it coming directly from Talarico’s campaign. The raw dollar totals do not necessarily translate directly into equal amounts of advertising.
Federal rules require broadcasters to offer candidates favorable rates during certain periods before an election, meaning Talarico’s campaign can generally purchase television and radio time more cheaply than Republican super PACs buying ads on Paxton’s behalf. As a result, outside Republican groups may have to spend considerably more money to purchase the same amount of airtime available to Talarico’s campaign.
Talarico entered the fall campaign with a major fundraising advantage. Federal Election Commission filings through June 30 showed that he had raised roughly $68.6 million and had approximately $21.5 million remaining in the bank. Paxton’s two federal campaign committees had raised approximately $9.2 million and reported less than $2 million in available cash at the same point. That disparity allowed Talarico to spend heavily throughout the summer introducing himself to voters and airing attacks on Paxton before national Republican groups began responding on a comparable scale.
The increased outside spending comes as national Republicans devote more attention to Texas, a state the party has traditionally not needed to defend heavily in Senate elections. Paxton secured the Republican nomination after defeating Cornyn, a four-term senator who had received support from Senate Republican leaders during the primary.
Trump endorsed Paxton in May and has continued supporting him in the general election. Senate Republican leaders had warned before the primary that a Paxton victory could require substantial outside spending during the general election. Texas is particularly expensive for statewide campaigns because candidates must advertise across numerous large television markets.
Thune and other Senate Republicans subsequently urged Trump’s political organization to deploy some of its substantial reserves to Texas. Paxton also used the Republican midterm convention in Dallas this week to make a direct fundraising appeal.
Speaking from the convention stage, he emphasized Talarico’s financial advantage and asked Republican supporters for their votes and financial assistance. Trump repeatedly promoted Paxton during the convention, while Republican organizations held additional fundraising events on his behalf.