Ken Paxton raises personal-best $18 million in third quarter for Texas’ U.S. Senate race
By Gabby Birenbaum, The Texas Tribune
October 5, 2026
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Ken Paxton raised over $18 million last quarter for his U.S. Senate bid — a personal best that is larger than his prior two quarters combined, yet still trails the record hauls his Democratic opponent James Talarico has posted this year.
Paxton’s $18 million sum, raised from July 1 through the end of September, more than doubles his second-quarter haul of $9 million and far outpaces the sums he raised during his winning primary battle with Sen. John Cornyn.
The third quarter was the first in which Paxton was Texas’ Republican Senate nominee for all three months, meaning he was no longer competing for GOP donors. He was also helped by the ability to fundraise jointly with Senate GOP groups like the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which backed Cornyn in the primary.
Paxton’s fundraising haul includes money raised through his principal campaign committee as well as two joint fundraising committees, through which he’s done the majority of his ad buying. Talarico, meanwhile, had yet to announce his third-quarter numbers, which are due to the Federal Election Commission by Oct. 15.
“Ken Paxton just doubled his second-quarter fundraising record to $18 million, and he did it with over 160,000 unique donors,” Paxton senior adviser Nick Maddux said in a statement. “Republicans from all corners of Texas have given to the campaign because they know what’s at stake. James Talarico can raise all the coastal money he wants, but he can’t hide his radical record from Texas voters.”
Maddux added that the campaign now has “the resources to make sure every Texan sees Talarico’s radical record between now and Election Day.”
To that end, Paxton’s campaign made its first significant statewide media buy, a $20 million ad campaign, last week.
Paxton is locked in a competitive race with Talarico that most analysts classify as a tossup — an unusual sight in a state where a Democrat has not won a statewide election in over 30 years. Polling averages show Talarico, an Austin state representative, with a narrow lead over the longtime attorney general and Trump ally.
Sen. Ted Cruz, an incumbent, raised $21 million in the third quarter of 2024, for comparison.
Though the $18 million haul is by far Paxton’s best, his fundraising has significantly lagged Talarico’s in prior quarters. The Democrat brought in $30 million in the second quarter and $27 million in the first.
The fundraising disparity has allowed Talarico to purchase far more ad time than Paxton’s campaign has. Talarico’s campaign, which has access to cheaper broadcast and radio ad rates than the network of super PACs spending mightily on Paxton’s behalf, has spent nearly $67 million on general election ads thus far. Paxton’s has spent $20 million.
A constellation of Republican super PACs — led by a group aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune — has poured over $175 million into advertising to boost Paxton on TV, digital and radio platforms. Talarico’s superior campaign fundraising, however, has made the disparity in advertising reach less stark.
Paxton has yet to submit his federal campaign finance paperwork to the FEC, which will detail the donors behind the $18 million haul and how much campaign cash he had left at the beginning of October.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
