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MAGA Inc. $10M Texas buy
President Donald Trump’s super PAC MAGA, Inc. disclosed a $10 million ad buy to boost Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his U.S. Senate race against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, according to a Saturday filing with the Federal Election Commission.
“MAGA Inc. has been sitting on an enormous, nearly $404 million war chest”
The spending is described as MAGA, Inc.’s first major general-election expenditure, with ads expected to run on television and digital platforms across Texas.
MAGA, Inc. has been sitting on an “enormous, nearly $404 million war chest,” per Federal Election Commission records cited by the New York Post, while Trump told reporters, “I’m allocating probably $400 or $500 million,” for the midterms.
Paxton framed the investment as support for his “Protecting the Texas Promise Agenda,” while Talarico’s campaign responded that “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.”
Where polls say Paxton trails
CBS News Texas reported that VoteHub, working with the Data Desk at CBS News, said the race is “basically a dead heat, about 50-50,” while also projecting Talarico to win Tarrant County by seven points.
CBS News Texas said VoteHub predicts Talarico will win Collin County by one point, calling it “the key swing county in the race this November,” and said Paxton is leading by one percentage point in Denton County.
In Dallas, a reliably Democratic county, Donnini said he expects Talarico to win by more than 30 percentage points, and he argued the model’s outlook reflects “about nine to ten percent of voters who say they’re undecided in the polls.”
CBS News Texas also said Talarico is getting out-fundraised by about eight to one by Paxton, and that “there were a ton of attack ads against him from the primary that hurt his favorables.”
Ads, attacks, and next moves
Multiple outlets described MAGA, Inc.’s $10 million as split evenly, with half supporting Paxton and half attacking Talarico, and the messaging focused on tax and economic policy.
“Democrats need to net just four seats to win the Senate majority.”
In a statement on Saturday, MAGA, Inc. spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer said, “High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans’ pockets,” and added, “MAGA Inc. is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico’s radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate.”
Talarico’s campaign spokesperson JT Ennis countered that “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,” while also arguing James “was proud to vote for the largest property tax cut in Texas history.”
CNN reported that Democrats need to net just four seats to win the Senate majority, and it said the influx of money from MAGA, Inc. comes days before Republicans are scheduled to convene in Texas for a midterm convention aimed at engaging GOP voters.