Senate Republicans are finally putting serious money behind Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate campaign, adding another major source of outside spending to a Texas race that has become far more expensive and competitive than GOP leaders anticipated.
Texas PAC, a new group connected to the Senate Leadership Fund, purchased roughly $32 million in broadcast television advertising Friday across the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Austin media markets, according to AdImpact. Senate Leadership Fund is the super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
The purchase represents Senate Republicans’ first major financial involvement in the Texas general election after staying largely on the sidelines following the GOP primary.
It also comes just days after President Donald Trump’s political operation entered the race. MAGA Inc., the Trump-aligned super PAC, committed $10 million to advertising supporting Paxton and opposing Democratic state Rep. James Talarico. Federal Election Commission filings showed the spending was divided evenly between ads supporting Paxton and opposing Talarico.
The sudden influx of Republican money highlights just how much the Texas Senate contest has changed.
Texas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1988, and statewide races have generally not required national Republicans to spend tens of millions of dollars simply to protect their nominee. This year, however, Talarico has built a substantial fundraising advantage over Paxton while public polling has shown a competitive race.
The situation is particularly notable because Senate Republican leaders spent much of the primary supporting Sen. John Cornyn rather than Paxton.
Republicans backing Cornyn argued that Paxton’s history of legal and ethical controversies could make the general election more difficult and expensive. OneNation, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Senate Leadership Fund, spent millions promoting Cornyn well before the primary was decided. Paxton eventually defeated Cornyn in the May runoff, forcing national Republicans to rally behind a candidate many of them had worked to stop.
Thune and other Senate Republicans subsequently supported Paxton and helped with fundraising, but Senate Leadership Fund initially kept its advertising dollars elsewhere.
That stood out because the group had already reserved hundreds of millions of dollars in other Senate battlegrounds. Its initial plans called for $342 million across eight competitive contests, including Republican-held seats the party is defending and Democratic seats Republicans hope to capture.
Texas was missing from those early reservations.
That has now changed in a big way.
Talarico’s fundraising advantage allowed his campaign to get on television early and introduce him to voters while also attacking Republicans over the cost of living. Paxton’s own campaign, meanwhile, has yet to make a similarly large television purchase.
Outside Republican organizations are increasingly filling that gap.
Trump’s MAGA Inc. entered the race with its $10 million advertising commitment earlier this month. Elon Musk-backed America PAC has also spent money supporting Paxton and opposing Talarico. Now Senate Republicans’ political operation is adding tens of millions more.
The spending could narrow Talarico’s advantage on the airwaves, although campaign dollars and super PAC dollars are not equal when buying broadcast advertising. Federal rules generally allow candidates to receive lower advertising rates than outside political groups during certain periods, meaning Talarico’s campaign can potentially purchase more airtime for the same amount of money.
Democrats are portraying the Republican spending surge as evidence that a Senate seat once considered safely Republican now requires national intervention.
“They should be sweating,” Senate Majority PAC spokesperson Christyna Thompson said. “SLF spent the spring trying to kill Paxton's campaign. Now they're stuck with the scam artist Trump forced on them.”
Republicans, meanwhile, have made clear that they consider Texas essential to maintaining their Senate majority. Thune publicly called for Trump and his allies to devote resources to the state before MAGA Inc. entered the race, pointing in part to the high cost of advertising across Texas’ numerous media markets.
The latest spending suggests that call has now been answered from several directions.
Paxton may still trail Talarico in campaign fundraising, but he is no longer fighting the television battle without the biggest financial players in Republican politics behind him. With Trump-aligned groups, Musk’s political operation and now Senate Republican leadership spending to help him, Texas has moved firmly onto the national Senate battlefield.
