Senate Republicans in Texas suddenly organize with significant funding for Ken Paxton.

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Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC that is connected to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, is taking to the outside in Texas ‘ U.S. Senate race with its first public poll ad buy in support of Ken Paxton.

According to the internet tracking company AdImpact, Texas PAC, a fresh party connected to SLF, on Friday purchased an initial round of about$ 51.3 million worth of broadcast TV ads in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin media markets.

In Texas, Senate Republicans had recently opposed saving money. Thune publicly urged the democratic operation of President Donald Trump to use resources to assist Paxton, citing the pricey nature of political advertising in a position with 20 media markets. The Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA Inc. purchased$ 10 million worth of advertising time in Texas over the weekend, marking its first investment in any public election contest.

Republicans in the Lone Star State, a long-standing GOP base, are often concerned about the group’s leaders in Washington, with the new deployment from SLF an acknowledgment of the fragile situation they are in. However, Paxton is now in the unusual placement of trailing Democrat James Talarico in the majority of people polls while being greatly overshadowed by the Austin-based lawmaker and his allies in a challenging national cycle.

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Senate Republicans ‘ first financial commitment in Texas since the key is seen in Friday’s advertisement.

Sen. John Cornyn, a staunch supporter of the senators, had long-held ties to their long-time friend and supported him over Paxton, contending that the attorney general’s record of legal and moral scandals had put the seat at risk and raise the cost of defending Texas. OneNation, a SLF-affiliated dark money organization that is required to disclose its contributors, spent millions of dollars on senator beneficial ads during the summer of 2025.

After the attorney general defeated Cornyn in a runoff, Thune and other Republican sided with Paxton and held donations for him over the summer, but SLF had stayed out of the campaign competition.

The team committed to a$ 34 million spend in eight events, five of which the GOP is in the defensive and three of which the group hopes to win, after months of making ad reservations in most of the other aggressive Senate battleground state. SLF has continued to fund tribes in Michigan, Ohio, and North Carolina.

Talarico has dominated the radio thanks to his financial advantage, running a variety of advertisements that both criticize Republicans for their large daily expenses and place him in the spotlight. However, the biggest spenders in Democratic politics have recently come online in Texas, bringing the spending to a level with the social operations of Donald Trump, Elon Musk’s PAC, and now the Senate Republicans ‘ outdoor party.

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America PAC, which is led by Musk, has spent more than$ 2.6 million on texting, ads, and phone calls to promote Paxton and criticize Talarico.

Democratic groups have spent$ 81.1 million on ads, including upcoming reservations through the end of September, since the industry was established with Paxton’s delayed May runoff win, according to AdImpact. Progressives have spent$ 43.7 million, almost all of which came from Talarico’s plan. According to regulations that grant campaigns a discount, Talarico’s campaign funds are spent on telecast and radio more than those of Republican super PACs.

On Saturday, two Texas PAC promotions started airing. A good campaign, which focused on a sex prostitution case that Paxton prosecuted as attorney general, features a picture of Talarico saying transgender children need to be protected, and rewrites a phrase Trump used in advertising in 2024, saying Talarico is” for them/them, not you,” to make it clear.

Democrats interpret the significant expenditure as an entrance of failure. According to a spokesman for Senate Majority PAC, the equivalent of the Senate Leadership Fund, Paxton “dragged SLF into bailing out a desk that was supposed to be sure-footed place for the GOP.”

They ought to get sweating, according to the director, Christyna Thompson, in a statement. SLF aimed to end Paxton’s battle in the spring. They are now dependent on the con actor Trump has targeted on them.

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The Paxton campaign has yet to make a significant television ad buy. It may get a lower unit rate on broadcast and radio than the PACs supporting him.

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Sep 11, 2026Hill Country Post

Senate Republicans in Texas suddenly organize with significant funding for Ken Paxton.

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