President Donald Trump is pouring money into the tight-knit Texas Senate race, starting with a $10 million donation to Attorney General and Republican nominee Ken Paxton (R-TX).
According to public filings, Trump’s super PAC MAGA Inc. committed the $10 million to support Paxton’s campaign over the weekend. This marks the president's first major donation ahead of the November midterms, adding steam to the Republican Party just 56 days out from Election Day.
Polls show the Texas race has remained within a one- to three-point range since the primary runoff in May. The most recent data shows Democratic nominee James Talarico (D-TX) leading Paxton by just a point.
“High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans’ pockets,” MAGA Inc. spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer said in a statement. “MAGA Inc. is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico’s radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate.”
This donation comes after Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) explicitly called for the president to do so. Sen. Thune and others, including Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), have expressed concern that Talarico could win the Senate seat.
Last week, Trump told reporters that MAGA Inc. has “close to a billion dollars” and that the super PAC plans on spending between $400 and $500 million for the midterms. However, public Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings from June show MAGA Inc. has about $400 million of cash on hand.
“We’re going to spend a lot of money because we don’t want to lose our country,” Trump said. “I’m going to spend whatever amount of money necessary to try to help us, and this is money from MAGA Inc. This is my money that I control.”
But Paxton’s controversial past has some voters unsure. Since May, reports of Paxton’s involvement in a civil fraud case, his 2023 impeachment and acquittal and a resurfaced video allegedly showing him pocketing an expensive pen have renewed scrutiny of his record.
Ahead of his donation, Trump said that he knows Paxton might be “controversial,” but “the fact he is so good makes him controversial.”
“Thank you very much, President Trump,” Paxton said on X. “We won’t let you down. Texas will remain Texas, and our country will be safe.”
