Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton‘s Republican Senate campaign has received nearly $54 million from the Senate Leadership Fund’s Texas-based political action committee.
The Austin-based Texas PAC donated more than $53.8 million to Paxton’s campaign, according to filings submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
The committee is affiliated with the Senate Leadership Fund, which is closely tied to Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota.
Texas PAC also moved aggressively on advertising, purchasing more than $51 million worth of ad reservations in a single day, according to media tracking firm AdImpact.
Those advertisements are set to air across the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin media markets, as reported by the Texas Tribune.
The financial injection marks a dramatic reversal for Paxton, whose campaign was at a significant disadvantage heading into the summer stretch of the race.
As of the end of June, Paxton’s campaign held less than $1.8 million on hand, compared to more than $21.5 million for his Democratic opponent, state Rep. James Talarico, based on FEC data.
Earlier this month, President Trump’s MAGA Inc. Super PAC also intervened in the race, paying $10 million to Del Ray Media, which released two attack ads targeting Talarico.
Talarico, 37, is attempting to become the first Democrat to win a Texas Senate seat since former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen claimed victory in 1988.
The Democratic candidate has built his campaign around raising taxes on billionaires and corporations, while also targeting Paxton over personal controversies including accusations of infidelity and his impeachment by the Texas House in 2023.
Talarico has also drawn attention to the unusual dynamic of Paxton’s estranged wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, remaining a sitting Republican legislator throughout the campaign.
The sudden flood of outside money into the Texas race underscores how seriously national Republicans are treating the contest as a potential vulnerability heading into the broader political cycle.
