Regardless of the outcome on Nov. 4, Republicans are bracing for a post-election reckoning over a Texas Senate race that has become a black hole for GOP money — absorbing hundreds of millions of dollars that could have otherwise helped the party fend off Democratic challengers across the country.
The race between Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico has become so expensive that the cost to Republicans may matter almost as much as the outcome itself. The contest is now a genuine toss-up — and it’s one of the most consequential Senate races in the fight for control of the chamber.
Recent YouGov, Fox News, and New York Times/Siena polls have shown Talarico with leads between 2 and 6 percentage points.
That has raised a strategic question for Republicans: How much should the party spend to defend Texas if doing so endangers seats in other states?
With just under four weeks to go until Election Day, the Texas race has already attracted $445 million in TV, radio and digital ad spending as of Wednesday — including $326 million from Republicans and $120 million from Democrats, according to AdImpact.
Since May 27, after Paxton defeated incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in the primary, Republicans have spent $195 million compared to Democrats’ $81 million.
GOP spending Texas has been second only to the most traditional swing state of Ohio, per AdImpact.
Paxton, whose fundraising has lagged behind Talarico’s, has been bolstered by national Republican groups. The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC tied to Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., announced the spin-off of Texas PAC in September, which has quickly spent $122 million to aid Paxton, per AdImpact.
“Alaska, Maine, Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire — in those five states, you could do everything you want to do and it would all cost the same as Texas,” Matt Mackowiak, a Republican strategist who worked for Cornyn’s campaign, told MS NOW in a phone interview. “So it’s not just a question of, what does Texas cost? It’s, what does it cost to the GOP Senate majority effort? A dollar can only be spent in one place. There’s not infinite money.”
Chris Gustafson, communications director for the Senate Leadership Fund, rejected the argument that spending in Texas comes at the expense of other races.
“Texas PAC is a dedicated effort, with dedicated donors, that has no impact on SLF’s investments in other Senate races across the country,” Gustafson said in a statement to MS NOW.
Of course, Texas PAC and the Senate Leadership Fund are super PACs that don’t disclose their donors, making it impossible to actually determine how much of their spending draws on the same pool of Republican money. And Gustafson’s characterization contrasts with his own earlier warnings that Paxton would require support from GOP donors who could otherwise spend their money elsewhere.
In August 2025, when the Senate Leadership Fund backed Cornyn, Gustafson said that “Ken Paxton’s toxic record only takes resources away from growing the Senate majority,” according to Punchbowl News.
The Talarico and Paxton campaigns didn’t respond to requests for comment.
No Democrat has won a statewide office in Texas since 1994. And while Republicans would obviously hate to see that streak end, Mackowiak said the GOP couldn’t afford to lose sight of the national effect of continuing to pour money into Texas, particularly when you consider that every Senate seat carries the same weight.
“It is absolutely necessary for the top Republican strategists in the country — the people running MAGA Inc., the people running Senate Leadership Fund, the people running Texas PAC — to carefully analyze the world we’re living in and not the world we want to live in, and make best spending decisions possible to maximize the odds of holding the Senate, because the state of the country is at risk,” Mackowiak said.
Cornyn, after losing his primary to Paxton, has similarly warned about how expensive Texas airwaves are, though he stressed that it’s not his place to dictate where money is spent.
“I’m not the one making that call,” Cornyn told reporters in September, when asked if national GOP money should be focused on Ohio and Maine. “I just will remind people how expensive it is to run in Texas. And obviously you’re talking about limited resources at some point, and the money you’re spending in one place is coming out of money that you could spend in other close races.”
Some observers say political spending isn’t exactly finite, and that the competitive race in Texas — a hotbed of GOP donors — has likely prompted donations that might not have otherwise materialized.
“For years, Texas Republicans complained about being an ATM for the Republican Party, so for once, to get the money to come back here, Texas Republican donors are probably happy to see it spent here,” said Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican strategist who previously worked on Cornyn’s campaign in the 2014 election cycle. “I don’t look at it as a zero-sum game vis-a-vis other states.”
However, the last-minute money dump into Texas still has drawbacks, Steinhauser told MS NOW. There don’t appear to be many persuadable voters who haven’t already heard plenty from both sides, so a deluge of TV ads may not make a difference.
“We’re at the point of diminishing returns,” Steinhauser said, noting that early voting starts Oct. 19. “No matter how much you spend, it’s too little, too late.”
Steinhauser added that the state of the economy had made it even harder for Republicans to persuade voters who don’t already support them. Voters are all talking about kitchen table issues, and Republicans “don’t have a great message,” he said.
“I was in a meeting with my hometown congressman, a local mayor, a county judge, Republican activists. What are they talking about? Gas prices, diesel, data centers, health care, housing,” Steinhauser said. “Pocket book issues. And people are struggling, no matter what the president says, no matter what Republicans say.”
GOP TV ads blanketing Texas airways aren’t focused on those issues. Two of Texas PAC’s recent ads have focused on Talarico’s comments on “defending trans Texans,” including surgery for children, saying the Democrat is “for they/them, not you.” Another features Republican state Sen. Angela Paxton — Ken Paxton’s wife, who filed for divorce, citing adultery — acknowledging “the elephant in the room” and urging voters to support “the Republican ticket.” Two more focus on Paxton’s work to convict six traffickers.
Talarico’s recent ads have touted his support for a cap on the cost of insulin, voting for tax cuts, opposition to corporate PAC money, and accusing Paxton of supporting a “sweetheart deal for a well-connected child predator.”
Matt Angle, a Texas Democratic strategist not involved in the race, said the rush of Republican money into the race is understandable given the high stakes of the race. But he also said the money may not make much of a difference at this point of the campaign.
“They are legitimately worried about losing a prize they can’t afford to lose,” Angle told MS NOW in a phone interview. “If Texas votes for Democratic members of the Senate, it sets off all sorts of alarms on both sides.”
The GOP money is a late attempt to make up for a weak candidate in Paxton, Angle said.
“It’s desperation. They screwed up,” Angle said. “They let the party be taken over by the extreme MAGA wing. They fell into the trap of thinking the Republican primary electorate reflected the general electorate.”
Mackowiak similarly argued the rush of spending could have been avoided.
President Donald Trump’s May 19 endorsement of Paxton, a week before the primary runoff, tipped the odds in Paxton’s favor, putting Republicans at a disadvantage against Talarico, he said.
If Talarico wins — establishing that Democrats can carry Texas and establishing him as a major fundraiser and recruiter — Trump’s decision will have long-term consequences.
“Tuesday, May 19, will live in infamy,” Mackowiak said.
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