President Donald Trump’s political operation waded into the midterm cycle over the weekend with a $10 million spending blitz aimed at shoring up a Republican struggling to hold what should be safe territory in deep-red Texas.
MAGA Inc., the pro-Trump super PAC, disclosed the independent expenditure in a Federal Election Commission filing tied to the Texas Senate contest. Of the total, $5 million will support Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, while the other $5 million will be spent opposing Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.
The funds were routed to Del Ray Media LLC, a political media firm based in Alexandria, Virginia. The filing shows the disbursement was made on September 4, with the resulting ads set to begin airing September 5. This marks the first general-election spending commitment from Trump’s operation this cycle. Republicans reportedly urged the president for weeks to back Paxton as the party works to defend narrow majorities in Congress. MAGA Inc. entered the race with a war chest exceeding $400 million.
Paxton thanked Trump for the support on social media, arguing that his own agenda cuts costs while accusing Talarico of a record of raising taxes.
Texas hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate in 33 years, yet the race between Paxton and Talarico remains a dead heat, with several election analysts now calling it a toss-up.
MAGA Inc. released two 30-second ads focused on tax policy, with a spokesperson accusing Talarico of pushing radical policies that would take money from Texans’ pockets.
Talarico’s campaign pushed back hard, with a spokesperson accusing “billionaire-backed dark money groups” of lying about his record out of fear of a grassroots movement. The campaign maintained Talarico voted for the largest property tax cut in Texas history and has consistently backed tax cuts for working residents.
Despite the late outside spending, Talarico has significantly outraised Paxton, pulling in more than $30 million in the second quarter compared to Paxton’s roughly $9 million. Elon Musk’s America PAC has already spent $1.4 million opposing the Democrat. Trump has escalated his rhetoric against Talarico in recent weeks, nicknaming him “Tala-freako” and calling him one of the worst candidates he’s ever seen.
