President Donald Trump’s super PAC has made a $10 million ad buy in the Texas Senate race, its first major spending for the November midterms, where nervous Republicans hope Trump’s political war chest can boost their sagging prospects.
As the final sprint to the election begins, MAGA Inc. on Saturday filed an expenditure report with the Federal Election Commission for $5 million in TV and digital advertising to support Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the state’s Republican Senate nominee, and another $5 million to oppose his Democratic opponent, state Rep. James Talarico.
Two ads, which MAGA Inc. later shared online, slam Talarico for supporting tax increases and argue that Paxton would be better for affordability.
“High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans’ pockets,” Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., said in a statement. “MAGA Inc. is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico’s radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate.”
Though Trump won Texas by nearly 14 percentage points in 2024, public polls show the Senate race in a dead heat. Paxton, who emerged from a bruising primary against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, is dogged by personal and ethical scandals, while Trump’s own declining popularity is creating a tough environment for GOP candidates across the country.
Democrats, who have not won a statewide race in Texas in three decades, are optimistic about their chances to finally flip the state blue. It would be a critical victory in their underdog bid to recapture the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority.
But the GOP maintains a major cash advantage that could turn the tides in the final two months of the campaign, particularly if Trump unleashes his considerable resources. MAGA Inc. had more than $400 million on hand at the end of July.
So far, Trump has sat on the sidelines of the most competitive congressional races. Some Republicans have privately voiced concerns that Trump will hold onto the money for his own priorities — construction of his Miami library, legal fees, influence on the next presidential election — in case his fundraising prowess wanes in the final years of his term.
That has left Republican leaders begging for help. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) publicly urged Trump to invest in the Texas Senate race.
“All of our allies out there, including the president and his team and their resources, need to be brought to bear on Texas, because it’s not one that we can lose if we’re going to hang on to a Republican majority,” Thune said on Fox News. “We flat have to win there.”
Trump has mostly spoken about supporting Republicans in the midterms through speeches and events. He claims to have nearly $1 billion available in his political operation — including an unknown sum in an allied nonprofit, Securing American Greatness — but those committees had previously booked just under $1 million on nationwide ads promoting the president.
On Friday, Trump told reporters that he would provide some financial support to GOP candidates that he likes and who have a good chance to win.
“This is my money that I control,” he said. “I can spend it for what I want to spend it for.”
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