Ken Paxton Gets $131 Million Boost From PAC As GOP’s Concern About Texas Senate Race Grows

More than $131 million have been spent in the last 17 days in an attempt to bolster Republican Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race, according to a new report.

The massive spending comes as some Polls have shown Paxton, the Texas attorney general, trailing his Democratic opponent, state representative James Talarico. Axios reported that a new Texas PAC is attempting to ride to Paxton's rescue as a result.

The Texas PAC stated in a Federal Election Commission report that it had spent $61.4 million in two days, including on ads against Talarico. The website reported that this brought the PAC's total spending on the race to more than $131 million in just over two weeks. The PAC was created last month is affiliated with the GOP Senate Leadership Fund.

Texas would be a key pickup for Democrats, who need to hold on to all of the seats they have while flipping four Republican seats to secure a Senate majority. Democrats have not won a Senate seat in 38 years, with Lloyd Bentsen's re-election in November 1988 being the last victory.

A recent NBC5 Dallas/Telemundo Group poll had Talarico ahead 46 percent to Paxton's 43 percent. However, the lead was within the poll's 4-point margin of error.

Other recent polls have also shown Talarico with an edge as well. A Recon MR poll released in September had Talarico's ahead of Paxton by 6 points, 49 percent to 43 percent. An Emerson College poll, sponsored by Nexstar Media, had Talarico leading by 1 point, 47 percent to 46 percent in mid-September.

The Cook Political Report moved the race from "Lean" Republican to toss-up in late August.

Paxton has been dogged by scandals. In 2023, he was impeached by a Texas House committee for a variety of alleged offenses, including bribery and abuse of public trust. The impeachment included 20 articles; Paxton was acquitted after a trial in the Texas Senate.

In 2015, he was indicted on securities fraud. That case was eventually dismissed in 2025 after an agreement was reached with prosecutors. The Texas Scorecard reported that Paxton admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to complete over 100 hours of community service, 30 hours of ethics training, and to pay full restitution of about $300,000.

Despite these past issues, Paxton was able to defeat longtime Republican incumbent Senator John Cornyn in a primary challenge. President Trump supported Paxton in the primary against Cornyn.