As Democrat James Talarico outspends Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton by tens of millions of dollars in the Texas Senate race, some Republicans are pushing for more help from President Donald Trump to defeat the leftist candidate in a race that appears surprisingly competitive.
Recent filings show Talarico raised about $31.6 million in the latest fundraising quarter to Paxton’s $9.3 million, a total in line with the Democrat’s major cash advantage throughout the race. The stark contrast in fundraising and polls showing a close race in a historically solid red state have led some Republicans to seek the president’s aid.
Over the weekend, Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) declared that GOP Senate campaign arms have no money budgeted to support Paxton, who defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn in one of the most expensive primary elections in history.
“We in the Senate don’t have the money budgeted for Texas. We need help from the president. The president says he has $850 million in his campaign account. That’s a lot of jack,” Kennedy told Fox News anchor Jacqui Heinrich on Sunday. “I’m hoping that the president is going to spend $100 or $200 million in Texas. But he hasn’t committed to it yet. But in the meantime we’ve got a race, and I’m not going to play act and say that we don’t.”
Kennedy was referring to recent comments made by Trump, who vowed to spend big to back Republican candidates.
“Well, I’ve raised a lot, and nobody knows what it is, but I will tell you it’s about $850 million,” Trump said. “I’ll be spending a lot of that money for — and my own money — but I’ll be spending a lot of that money for candidates that I think are good, Republican candidates.”
MAGA Inc., a political action committee aligned with the president, has over $400 million in the bank, according to campaign filings. A Republican operative familiar with MAGA Inc. plans told The Daily Wire that the group “will spend on competitive races” and is “committed to retaining our majorities in the House and Senate.”
Talarico, who has attempted to brand himself as a moderate despite his history of far-Left advocacy in the Texas legislature, has had his campaign coffers boosted by out-of-state Democratic donors in wealthy Massachusetts enclaves like Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
“There’s no sense bubble wrapping it. We got a race in Texas,” Kennedy said on Sunday. “Money is an issue. Mr. Talarico has been raising bucket loads of money from California, Hollywood, all the beautiful people who partied with Harvey Weinstein.”
The calls for help in Texas for Trump’s assistance have grown as other major GOP fundraising arms, including the Senate Majority Leader John Thune-aligned Senate Leadership Fund and the Republican National Senatorial Committee, have done little to support Paxton.
Some donors have said they don’t plan on spending in Texas because they are bitter over the outcome of the GOP primary.
“The message to Trump world is, ‘you broke it, now you own it. You gotta spend some of your money to defend him because we’ve got bigger fish to fry,’” one unnamed donor told POLITICO.
Last week, Trump traveled to Texas, where he attended a fundraiser for the National Republican Committee and rallied in support of Paxton, whom he endorsed in the primary. “I’m going to help Ken Paxton, and I’m going to spend a lot of time in Texas,” Trump said ahead of the event.
In recent weeks, MAGA Inc. has been stepping up its campaign presence, backing Senator Darline Graham’s successful race in the South Carolina Republican primary with an $800,000 ad buy. On Monday, Vice President JD Vance will be campaigning in Michigan at a MAGA Inc. event for Republican Mike Rogers. Rogers is running against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed to replace outgoing Democrat Senator Gary Peters.
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