The super PAC associated with President Donald Trump, MAGA Inc., has given $10 million for ad money to help Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate campaign against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.
A Federal Election Commission filing on Sept. 5 shows the money was evenly split into two media campaigns connected to TV and digital advertising, marking the first MAGA Inc. spend in the general election.
The first $5 million spend was placed for an ad against Talarico while the second $5 million, revealed on the same day, will be to promote Paxton in the competitive race.
Saturday’s filing came one day after Trump suggested that potentially a massive amount of money could be spent to boost Republicans’ chances in the midterms.
“I’m going to spend whatever amount of money necessary to try and help us,” Trump told reporters on Sept. 4.
The Lone Star State’s Senate primary earlier in the year raised eyebrows as it became the most expensive primary on record. Data from ad-tracking firm AdImpact showed that $110.5 million was used on ad spending and reservations.
The large ad budget ahead of the midterm election shows how a once-safe Republican seat in Texas may flip to the Democrats, as Talarico hopes to be the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate since 1988, when Sen. Lloyd Bentsen won reelection.
Talarico’s campaign says the Democrat has “never taken a dime of corporate PAC money,” and the 37-year-old’s first bill in the U.S. Senate, if elected, will be a proposal to ban super PACs and corporate PACs.
The Lone Star State’s race pivoted from “Lean Republican” to a “Toss Up” on Aug. 20, according to an election forecast by the Cook Political Report.
Talarico led most polls taken in July and August by a small margin against Paxton, who beat incumbent John Cornyn in the GOP primary runoff election.
Paxton’s win against Cornyn was helped by a presidential endorsement, as Trump won the state with 56.1 percent of the vote in the 2024 presidential election.
“Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate,” Trump wrote in an endorsement on Truth Social.
Talarico was recently endorsed by Billionaire Mark Cuban, who campaigned for the Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful on Aug. 29.
“One of the reasons I’m here is not just to talk about healthcare, but because of James and the fact that I believe in him,” Cuban told a sold-out crowd at the Ridglea Theater in Fort Worth.
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