Republicans pour money into tight Texas Senate race as Ken Paxton faces James Talarico  

Republicans are steering millions toward the Texas Senate race between Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in a bid to save the seat, just five weeks out from the midterm elections.

The race, which Cook Political Report rates as a “toss-up,” is one of just a handful of contests across the country that will determine whether Republicans can retain control of the Senate. The race is on track to shatter spending records for the Texas Senate race, Houston Public Media reported, with collective advertising spending by the two campaigns and aligned super PACs already totaling $153 million and expected to more than double that by Election Day.

Talarico takes lead in a razor-thin race

Talarico is up by anywhere from one to six percentage points in a majority of polls gathered by the New York Times, a notable lead for Democrats, who haven’t won a statewide race in more than 30 years.

Talarico – who lists codifying Roe v. Wade to ensure abortion access, rolling back the Trump administration’s tariffs, imposing higher taxes on billionaires and corporations, and universal health care among his top campaign priorities – is a state lawmaker and Presbyterian seminarian.

President Trump has lambasted Talarico as a “weird looking dude” and frequently refers to him by the nickname “Talafreako.” At the Republican midterm convention in Dallas this month, Trump didn’t hold back, painting Talarico as too progressive for deep-red Texas, labeling him as a meat-avoiding mask-lover who is wrong on transgender issues and wants to dismantle capitalism.

“This is not going to be your senator, it’s not going to work out,” the president said. “Freedom-loving patriots of Texas are going to defeat Talafreako and elect Ken Paxton to protect the Lone Star State.”

Paxton’s campaign has echoed Trump’s line of attack. In reference to an ad featuring a drag queen Talarico praised, Paxton campaign spokeswoman Madison Cervy told the El Paso Times, “James Talarico’s twisted friends aren’t just too radical for Texas; they’re too dangerous to be allowed within 100 feet of a school.”

Republicans open war chest for Paxton

From September through Election Day, Republican-aligned groups are expected to spend a whopping $166 million to boost Paxton, as CNN reported. MAGA Inc., a super PAC for Trump allies, has already poured $10 million into the race, and the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC linked to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, announced this month it would unleash millions of dollars to push Paxton to the finish line.

“As the Democrat Party gets pulled further to the left, extreme candidates like James Talarico are becoming the norm,” Thune said. “Republicans are united in keeping him out of the U.S. Senate, which is why I’m proud of the work the Senate Leadership Fund is doing to ensure Texas stays red.”

The state’s 51st attorney general, Paxton lists suing the Biden administration more than 100 times and fighting against “open borders policies, government overreach, attacks on the Second Amendment, and the far-left’s radical agenda” among his top accomplishments.

“His legal victories were so significant that even CNN had to admit defeat, calling Texas ‘a legal graveyard for Biden policies,’” Paxton’s campaign website notes. He brands Talarico as “the most radical Democrat in Texas history,” citing his “far-left positions that are completely out of step with Texas values, including promoting the idea that there are multiple genders beyond biological reality, supporting policies that weaken border security, and advocating for radical gender ideology and LGBTQ-focused content in schools.”

Paxton, who has a strong track record of supporting school choice in Texas and is outspoken about his pro-life stance, has also faced several well-publicized legal scandals over the years. Among them are a securities fraud indictment and federal fraud charges, both since dropped or dismissed, as well as accusations from former staffers of taking bribes.

Trump endorsement and pushback

Trump issued a last-minute endorsement of Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary in May, calling him a “true MAGA Warrior.” He called Cornyn a “good man” but criticized him for not being “supportive of me when times were tough” and said he was “very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination.”

Trump’s choice to endorse Paxton at the last minute has faced pushback from some Republicans, such as Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, who called it a “colossal mistake.”

“John Cornyn’s a great member of the U.S. Senate. Paxton has his challenges. We would not be spending tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in Texas if Cornyn had won,” Tillis told CNN over the weekend, adding that the Republican Party has “evolved” to the point where “one or two disagreements” with Trump is treated as disqualifying. “Now is not the time for these loyalty oaths. Now is the time for Republicans to get elected.”

A White House official pointed to Trump’s wins in Texas and referred Heartlander News to the Republican National Committee when reached for comment.

“The Republican calvary has arrived in Texas,” RNC spokesman Zach Kraft told Heartlander News, “to counter James Talarico’s flood of money from radical leftwing billionaires desperately trying to turn the Lone Star State blue. It will be a cold day in Hell before Texas elects a gender confused freak like James Talarico who has made it clear he will ban oil and gas, replace steak with vegan lab grown slop, and throw parents in jail for opposing child sex changes.”

Heartlander News reached out to the Texas GOP, the Senate Leadership Fund and both Senate campaigns for comment. 

(Image credit: Ken Paxton, Texas AG office; James Talarico, screenshot, Talarico for Texas)