Trump-linked MAGA Inc pours $10M into Ken Paxton's Texas Senate race against James Talarico

MAGA, Inc., the super PAC connected to President Donald Trump , has made its first major midterm buy: $10 million in ad spending to support Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his Senate race, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission. Paxton and Democrat state Rep. James Talarico are locked in a tight race where polls continually show the two candidates neck and neck. The $10 million will go toward digital and TV ads across the state. FOX NEWS POLL: GOP DIVISION
MAGA, Inc., the super PAC linked to President Donald Trump, has made its first major midterm buy with $10 million in ad spending to support Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his Senate race, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission.
Paxton and Democrat state Rep. James Talarico are locked in a tight race in which polls continually show the two candidates neck and neck. The race is one of roughly a dozen that will determine if the GOP holds its Senate majority in the midterms.
The $10 million will go toward digital and TV ads across the state.
FOX NEWS POLL: GOP DIVISIONS SHAPE TEXAS SENATE RACE
Trump’s endorsement at the 11th hour ahead of a late May primary runoff election already helped Paxton beat longtime Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn for the Republican nomination.
"While James Talarico has a record of raising taxes on working families, my Protecting the Texas Promise Agenda cuts costs and makes life more affordable. Thank you, President @realDonaldTrump, for your support," Paxton wrote on X on Saturday while sharing a post about the ad buy. "Together we will win for Texas and America."
The decision comes after weeks of speculation over whether the super PAC would put money into the hotly contested race.
Talarico’s campaign also responded to the move, telling Fox News Digital, "Billionaire-backed dark money groups are lying about James Talarico because they’re scared of the people-powered movement we’re building to fix this broken, corrupt political system."
BERNIE SANDERS DEMANDS DEMOCRATS BAN SUPER PACS FROM PRIMARIES, BLASTS AIPAC, ‘CORRUPT SYSTEM’
Talarico, who has called for higher taxes on the wealthy, called out billionaires heading to the Republican midterm convention starting Wednesday.
"Next week, billionaire mega-donors and their puppet politicians will gather at a convention in Dallas to clink champagne glasses and toast their own corruption," he said.
"They’re paying $20,000 for entry to a Billionaire Ball celebrating corrupt tariffs, billionaire tax breaks, and a new forever war that are all driving grocery costs through the roof. We’ll be doing something different. We’re bringing Republicans, Democrats and independents together to collect groceries for our neighbors who have been screwed over by corrupt politicians."
Calling him "High Tax Talarico," MAGA Inc. spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer told Fox News Digital the Democrat "wants to take money out of Texans' pockets. MAGA Inc. is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico's radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate."
TALARICO’S ‘PROUD CAPITALIST’ ABOUT-FACE COLLIDES WITH RESURFACED CALL TO ‘DISMANTLE’ CAPITALISM
Talarico holds a massive campaign cash advantage over Paxton heading into the final stretch ahead of the midterms, which means Paxton will need help from outside groups such as MAGA Inc.
Talarico’s campaign has raised $72 million since the campaign began, mostly from small donors, compared to $16.8 million by Paxton’s campaign, according to the Texas Tribune.
The two anti-Talarico ads slam his policies on taxes and rural hospitals while touting Paxton’s support for doubling the child tax credit, allowing tax breaks for medical expenses and a $50,000 deduction for first-time homebuyers.
Top Republicans have been urging Trump and his team to open their coffers.
"We have to win this race…we're going to need all the hands on deck," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview last week on Fox News' "The Story."
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 told Fox News' Martha MacCallum.
MAGA, Inc. has around $400 million in campaign funds, which Trump called "my money" while speaking to reporters this week, adding, "I’m going to spend whatever amount of money necessary to try and help us."
"Probably $400, 500 million," the president told reporters, adding that the super PAC had hauled in "close to a billion dollars."
The $10 million unveiled Saturday is the first major expenditure by MAGA INC in the general election, although it did organize a rally headlined by Vice President JD Vance in Michigan last week to help boost GOP Senate nominee former Rep. Mike Rogers in his race against Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed for an open Democrat-held Senate seat.
MAGA Inc. spent over $800,000 last month to help boost Sen. Darline Graham of South Carolina to victory in a primary runoff election against Rep. Ralph Norman. In the spring, the group dished out nearly $600,000 to MAGA KY, to help defeat Rep. Thomas Massie as he ran for renomination. Massie is a leading vocal GOP critic of the president.
While independent of the president and the White House, MAGA Inc. is run by former top Trump aides and advisers, and Trump has sway over the super PAC's decisions.
Coverage from 1 source
Coverage by lean
- Unknown1
Comments
Sign in to join the discussion.
Sign in with SpryLogin