Maps Shows Where Ken Paxton and James Talarico's Donations Coming From - Newsweek
Texas State Representative James Talarico’s official senate campaign has a significant financial lead over rival Ken Paxton, the current Texas attorney general, according to the latest campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Data published by the FEC shows Talarico raised $31,853,507 in the campaign to June 30. Over the same period the Paxton campaign received $9,147,100.
Democrats are hoping to seize control of the Senate at the November midterms, a move that would significantly restrict President Trump’s freedom of action during the final two years of his presidency. The money being poured into both campaigns, including from out of state, shows how seriously the contest is being taken.
Winning in Texas, which last elected a Democratic Senator in 1988, would be a significant win for the Democrats.
Newsweek contacted the Talarico and Paxton campaigns for comment on Friday via email.
Of the $31,853,507 raised by Talarico’s campaign up to June 30, some $17,529,508 (55 percent) came from Texas while the remainder was from out of state.
By state the biggest contributor to the campaign after Texas came from California at $3,579,701, then New York on $1,482,533. This was followed by Massachusetts with $918,007, Washington state on $728,018 and Illinois with $636,625.
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The Paxton campaign received $9,147,100 over the same period, of which 82.9 percent, a much higher proportion, came from Texas itself.
After Texas the biggest donor by state to Paxton’s campaign was Florida at $174,463, followed by California on $135,492. The top six were completed by Utah, Arizona and Pennsylvania with $134,597, $69,376 and $67,966 donated respectively.
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The FEC figures only cover donations made to the official campaigns of Talarico and Paxton, with individual donations capped at $3,500 per candidate per election. It doesn’t include money given to Super PACs supporting either candidate, which have much less stringent contribution caps.
According to media-tracking firm AdImpact Texas PAC, a Republican aligned group affiliated with the Senate Leadership Fund, spent over $51 million supporting Paxton.
This money was used to reserve broadcast television advertising in the Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth media markets the Texas Tribune reported, citing AdImpact.
An additional $2.6 million was reportedly spent on advertising backing Paxton by America PAC, which is supported by Elon Musk, whilst Trump aligned MAGA Inc. spent $10 million reserving Texas advertising and later gave a further $5 million to Paxton’s campaign.
Overall pro-Democrat groups spent $43.7 million reserving advertising space according to AdImpact, much of which came from Talarico’s campaign directly.
Paxton, who won a bruising primary battle with incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn, has long been controversial within the Republican Party of Texas. In 2023 he was impeached by the GOP dominated Texas House, though later acquitted by the state Senate.
However speaking to Newsweek Alex Latcham, head of the Republican aligned Senate Leadership Fund, insisted the party was now firmly behind its candidate.
In an email he said: “The Republican Party is united to elect Ken Paxton and keep Texas red in November. Senate Leadership Fund’s investment through Texas PAC affirms our commitment to maintaining the Republican majority and defeating Far-Left liberals like James Talarico.”
Over the past week it emerged that Talarico was ahead of Paxton according to all eight major pollsters covering the election, though a number were within the margin of error.
Between September 12 and 14 Emerson College polled 1,000 Texas voters, finding 47 percent would vote for Talarico vs 46 percent for Paxton. The survey had a three percentage point margin of error.
Separately, AARP polled 895 likely Texas voters between August 30 and September 1, finding Talarico had a four-point lead with a 3.3 point margin of error.
