Texas Senate Fight Takes A Nasty Turn With ‘Pay-To-Play’ Claim

The Texas Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton has turned into a fight over character and ethics.

Next up: Republicans are accusing Talarico of a “pay-to-play scheme.”

But first, how did we get here?

Talarico has run ads calling Paxton “the most corrupt politician in Texas.” Paxton was indicted in 2015 on securities fraud charges, which were dropped in 2024 as part of an agreement that required him to pay roughly $271,000 in restitution and complete community service and legal ethics education.

Now, there’s an interesting wrinkle in Talarico’s own paper trail.

In 2021, Talarico authored HB 4117, a bill aimed at helping Texas students who had fallen behind during COVID. The legislation would have created the Texas Tutor Corps and a COVID-19 learning-loss and student-acceleration program involving the Texas Education Agency.

At the same time, Talarico was working for MAYA Consulting, an education consulting firm that would later receive millions of dollars in contracts from that same state agency.

Talarico contracted for MAYA, which later became VIDA Collaborative, from 2019 to 2025. Those were also the years he served on the Texas House Public Education Committee, whose jurisdiction includes the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

TEA awarded MAYA two contracts worth roughly $3.6 million and $1.6 million, according to records cited by Fox News. Talarico’s 2025 financial disclosure shows he earned $83,333.40 from MAYA that year, compared with $13,904.92 from the Texas House.
Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft called the arrangement a “textbook pay-to-play scheme,” while Paxton’s campaign has also attacked the financial arrangement.

Talarico’s campaign and his former employer strongly deny the allegations.

VIDA Collaborative CEO Kassi Longoria told Fox News that Talarico’s consulting work was kept separate from his legislative duties and that he never worked on, received compensation from, or helped secure state- or federally funded contracts.

Talarico campaign spokesman JT Ennis also denied the allegations, saying Talarico had no involvement in MAYA securing public contracts and that his consulting agreement barred him from representing the firm before the legislature or state education agencies.

The scrutiny comes after The Daily Wire previously examined Talarico’s personal finances, including disclosures showing that he shares a joint bank account with his mother, received financial help from his parents for moving expenses in 2021, and listed his parents’ address as his business address in state filings from 2024 and 2025 despite owning an Austin home.