BS BULLETIN:
- President Donald Trump’s MAGA Inc. is pouring $10 million into the Texas Senate race, its first major general-election expenditure of the 2026 midterms.
- The money is split evenly: $5 million in advertising supporting Republican Ken Paxton and $5 million attacking Democrat James Talarico.
- The extraordinary part isn’t just the money. It’s Texas: Republicans haven’t lost a statewide race there in more than three decades, yet polls have turned the contest into a genuine fight.
If Republicans weren’t worried about Texas before, $10 million says they are now.
President Donald Trump’s political operation is jumping into the unexpectedly competitive Texas Senate race with a $10 million advertising blitz aimed at electing Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and defeating Democrat James Talarico.
MAGA Inc., Trump’s powerful super PAC, disclosed the expenditure Saturday in a filing with the Federal Election Commission.
Half the money will pay for television, streaming and digital advertising supporting Paxton.
The other $5 million will finance ads opposing Talarico.
But the bigger political message may be where Trump decided to spend first.
The Texas expenditure is MAGA Inc.’s first major investment in a premier general-election contest this cycle — and it comes in a state Republicans once could reasonably assume would take care of itself.
Not anymore.
Public polling has shown Paxton and Talarico locked in an extraordinarily tight contest, with several political analysts rating the race a toss-up.
Democrats haven’t won a statewide election in Texas in more than 30 years.
Trump carried the state by nearly 14 points in 2024.
Yet Republicans are now spending serious money to make sure their Senate nominee survives November.
“High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans’ pockets,” MAGA Inc. spokesman Alex Pfeiffer said in announcing the campaign. “MAGA Inc. is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico’s radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate.”
The first two ads focus heavily on taxes.
One promotes Paxton’s proposals for tax relief involving housing and health-care expenses while attacking Talarico’s record and proposals.
“Talarico? Higher taxes,” the ad declares. “Paxton? Lower taxes. A clear choice.”
Talarico’s campaign says the characterization is false.
“Billionaire-backed dark money groups are lying about James Talarico because they’re scared of the people-powered movement we’re building,” campaign spokesman JT Ennis said, pointing to Talarico’s votes for property-tax relief for working Texans.
Money is one reason Republicans are nervous.
Talarico has been raising it at a remarkable clip.
He raised more than $30 million during the second quarter, compared with just over $9 million for Paxton, according to the Texas Tribune.
Talarico’s campaign has also spent more than $40 million on general-election advertising, while Paxton’s campaign had spent only a fraction of that amount directly as of this weekend.
Elon Musk’s America PAC has now entered the fight as well, spending about $1.4 million against Talarico.
Republican leaders have been practically begging Trump and his allies to help.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune warned last week that Texas is a race Republicans “flat have to win” if they want to preserve their Senate majority.
Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana was even more explicit.
He said Senate Republicans don’t have money budgeted for a Texas rescue operation and publicly expressed hope that Trump would spend $100 million or even $200 million in the state.
Trump certainly has the firepower.
MAGA Inc. reported more than $400 million available at last count, while Trump has said the broader collection of political groups under his influence controls substantially more.
“I’m going to spend whatever amount of money necessary to try and help us,” Trump told reporters Friday.
Paxton reached the general election after defeating incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in the May primary runoff, aided by Trump’s endorsement.
Trump remains firmly behind him.
But even the president recently acknowledged that Paxton may not be the easiest candidate to sell on television.
“You might not like the way he looks, you might not love his look, you might not love his television interviews,” Trump said Wednesday before praising Paxton as perhaps the country’s best attorney general.
Talarico, meanwhile, has increasingly become a Trump target.
The president recently christened him “Tala-freako.”
Talarico responded by putting the nickname on T-shirts and selling them.
Now the joking is giving way to serious money.
Texas has 20 media markets, making statewide advertising enormously expensive. Thune estimated that a week of statewide television advertising alone can cost about $8 million.
And this $10 million may be only the beginning.
With early voting little more than six weeks away, Trump’s political machine has finally opened its enormous midterm war chest.
Its first major destination:
Deep-red Texas.
MY QUICK TAKE
Here’s the part that should get every Republican’s attention: Trump isn’t spending $10 million because Texas is safely red.
He’s spending $10 million because somebody thinks it might not be. When Republicans start talking about needing a rescue operation in Texas, you don’t hit the snooze button.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- Associated Press — Trump’s first major midterm money move: A $10M Texas Senate ad blitz
- Texas Tribune — MAGA Inc. cavalry arrives for Paxton with $10 million ad buy
- CBS News — Trump delivers $10 million to Ken Paxton in first major midterm expenditure
- Washington Post — Trump begins major midterm spending with $10 million ad buy in Texas
