Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

* According to the latest third-quarter fundraising reports to the Federal Elections Commission, Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico raised $64 million between July and September, which is the best quarter any Senate candidate has ever had in American history. His Texas rival, Republican Ken Paxton, raised $10.2 million over the same period.

That said, the scandal-plagued state attorney general is receiving some extraordinary backup from billionaire GOP megadonor Elon Musk, who is almost single-handedly financing Paxton’s candidacy at this point.

As MS NOW reported, Musk donated $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC aligned with the Senate Republican leadership, and one day after Musk opened his wallet, the Senate Leadership Fund “transferred the exact same amount of money to a pro-Ken Paxton super PAC called Texas PAC.”

Whether Texans have any concerns about a billionaire trying to flood the race with cash for Paxton remains to be seen.

* Speaking of fundraising, Punchbowl News took a closer look at third-quarter Federal Election Commission reports and found that in the six states that are likely to determine the Senate majority — Texas, Alaska, Ohio, Maine, Michigan and Iowa — the Democratic nominees “raised between three and six times more than their Republican opponents.”

* In Colorado’s gubernatorial race, Democratic state Attorney General Phil Weiser this week picked up endorsements from several prominent current and former Republicans. As The Denver Post noted, the list included former Rep. Ken Buck, who went so far as to cut a video for Weiser in which he acknowledges it may be “unusual” for a congressman from the longtime GOP stronghold to back a Democrat. In the video, Buck says a shared belief in “integrity in politics” unites the two.

* On a related note, in New Hampshire’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas also picked up some Republican support this week, including an unexpected endorsement from Don Bolduc, the Trump-endorsed Republican Senate nominee from the 2022 election cycle.

* In Kansas’ closely watched U.S. Senate race, incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall didn’t need another controversy, but he managed to get one anyway. The Associated Press reported that the GOP senator worked on a water rights dispute, failing to mention that his solution would benefit a bordering property that he owns.

* And in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race, Donald Trump, on a nearly daily basis, has decided to deliberately call Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed by the wrong name, “Mohammed El-Sayed.” Asked why, the president said, “I don’t know. I feel like it.”

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From MS Now.