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The race for the Senate seat in Texas is shaping up to be one of the most expensive contests in the country. Democratic candidate James Talarico is setting records by making more gains in this phase of the race than any other Texas general election candidate in the last decade and posting the largest quarterly haul of any active Senate race.
GOP candidate Ken Paxton is trailing, having raised less than a quarter of what his rival has raised since the start of the race. Despite his fundraising disadvantage, Paxton is benefiting from new rules governing how national party committees can spend money in coordination with candidates and, like many cash-strapped Republicans, is relying heavily on fundraising in coordination with other candidates and party groups.
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Here’s what you need to know:
How much did the candidates raise?
The campaigns of Talarico and Ken Paxton reported raising $31.6 million and $9.3 million, respectively, in their most recent quarterly filing with the Federal Election Commission. Since the start of 2025, Talarico’s campaign has significantly exceeded Paxton’s, raising a total of $72.0 million, compared to Paxton’s $16.8 million.
The Democratic Senate candidate ended June with $23.3 million, more than three times his Republican rival. Despite Paxton’s weaker fundraising performance, his campaign may have less to worry about after the Supreme Court struck down federal limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with their candidates.
While the ruling allows both parties to spend unlimited money, Republicans stand to benefit more nationally due to their stronger support from major donors. National party committees can accept up to $44,300 per year from a single donor, compared to just $3,500 per election for candidate committees.
Through his main campaign committee, Paxton has raised $9.2 million since the start of his campaign. In addition, it raised $7.5 million through its joint fundraising committees, which allow candidates to raise money jointly with other candidates or organizations and divide the dollars according to a predetermined formula. Talarico’s joint fundraising committees raised about $6 million, only about 8% of its total revenue, compared to Paxton’s about 45%.
The use of joint fundraising committees has increased in recent years. In 2024, an FEC deadlock meant that the fundraising tools could be used to buy ads without allocating their costs to candidates, effectively allowing some candidates or organizations to subsidize the campaigns of others. Republican candidates, who are often strapped for cash, have exploited this loophole more often.
How do they compare to previous cycles?
Compared to the same point in previous cycles, Talarico has scored more than any other general election candidate in the past decade. On the other hand, Paxton is falling behind his Republican predecessors.
Even though the Democratic candidates significantly outperformed their Republican counterparts in 2018 and 2024, this did not mean a victory for the challengers. In 2024, Colin Allred ended his campaign after raising nearly $21 million more than Ted Cruz, losing by 8.5 percentage points. Beto O’Rourke raised nearly $45 million more than Cruz in 2018, but still lost 2.6 percentage points.
What donations do they receive?
The Senate candidates are taking part in one of the most anticipated elections in the country, drawing large contributions from individual donors. Neither candidate has received strong support from PACs. Talarico and Paxton have received nearly $359,000 and $241,000, respectively, from PACs. Senate candidates relied on contributions from individual donors to replenish their war chests.
Talarico’s campaign has demonstrated strong fundraising from small donors. 51% of its total donations came from individuals who donated less than $200 over the course of the campaign. In contrast, 88% of Paxton’s contributions came from major donors.
Where do the contributions come from?
Contributions to candidates were concentrated in the state’s largest cities. Talarico received the most from Travis County, where donors who gave more than $200 gave a total of $2.6 million to his campaign through March 31, 2026. Paxton’s largest donation came from Dallas County, where he raised about $1 million as of May 6, 2026, although Talarico still managed to surpass him there too.
Of the individual donations made to Talarico and Paxton, approximately 59% and 83%, respectively, came from Texas. Talarico received the most out-of-state donations from California and New York, while Paxton received the most from Florida and Utah.
What about ad buys and external spend?
Things have been relatively quiet among pro-Paxton canvassers since the May 26 Republican runoff election. Meanwhile, Talarico’s campaign launched its biggest general election advertising push yet: a $4.4 million ad buy, according to AdImpact. In the 30-second ad, the Democrat talks about affordability as he leaves a Red & White grocery store.
So far, most of the independent spending has come in the run-up to the primary and Republican runoffs against Paxton. The largest donor was a pro-Cornyn super PAC called Texans for a Conservative Majority, which spent about $25 million against Paxton. The group has close ties to Trump’s inner circle and has bought some of the race’s most expensive ads attacking Paxton.
The GOP candidate’s largest outside support came from Lone Star Liberty PAC, which spent about $770,000 supporting Paxton and $200,000 opposing Talarico. The second largest donor to support Paxton was Fellowship PAC, a crypto super PAC, which spent $500,000.
Talarico was only the target of about $763,000 in opposition spending. In the run-up to the primary, approximately $4.1 million was spent supporting his candidacy, with nearly $4 million of that coming from Lone Star Rising PAC. The super PAC is Talarico’s largest outside donor and is backed by several billion-dollar donors.
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/20/texas-senate-talarico-paxton-fundraising-spending-money-donors/
