The Texas Senate race between Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico has become the most expensive Senate contest of this election cycle, with total advertising spending surpassing $440 million, according to the analytics firm AdImpact.
The scale of spending reflects both parties' view of Texas as newly competitive terrain in a state that has not elected a Democrat to the US Senate in decades. Paxton, the state's sitting attorney general, is seeking to move up to the Senate, while Talarico, a state representative, is seeking to become Texas's first Democratic senator in a generation. With Election Day set for November 3, both campaigns and a wave of outside money have poured into the race in its final weeks.
A lopsided fundraising gap
Talarico has built the larger campaign war chest of the two candidates. Federal Election Commission filings show he raised $31,853,507 through June 30, compared with $9,147,100 raised by Paxton over the same period, according to Bloomberg Government's analysis of the filings. Paxton's campaign later said it had raised $18 million between July and September, which it described as a personal best for the quarter.
For a closer look at how wide that gap has grown, an independent rundown of how dramatically the two campaigns' totals have diverged tracks the numbers quarter by quarter.
Outside money piles in
Outside groups have moved aggressively to boost Paxton as the financial gap persists. MAGA Inc, the Trump-aligned super PAC, committed $10 million to ads backing Paxton — its first major buy of the midterm cycle, per Fox News. The Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, has also launched a Texas-focused PAC to support Paxton's campaign.
Despite the financial disadvantage, Talarico has shown strength in at least one recent poll. A Fox News survey conducted in late July showed him leading Paxton 51% to 48%, within striking distance given the state's Republican lean in recent cycles.
With just weeks remaining before the November 3 election, both sides are expected to keep up a heavy advertising push, and additional outside spending from national party committees and allied groups remains likely as the race heads into its final stretch.
