Trump-aligned super PAC to spend $10 million in Texas Senate race

The Donald Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC plans to spend millions of dollars in the Texas Senate race, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Saturday. The group is spending $10 million on TV and digital ads in the race, with the filing suggesting that MAGA Inc. will launch ads targeting state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate in the Lone Star State. The new spending comes as Republicans call on Trump’s deep-pocketed political operation to engage in the midterms, particularly in this Texas race, where state Attorney General Ken Paxton won the GOP primary against GOP Sen. John Cornyn earlier this year after Trump endorsed Paxton over the sitting senator. Following that endorsement, some of Cornyn’s Senate GOP colleagues have publicly worried that Paxton could have a harder time winning the general election than Cornyn because of several past controversies. Paxton was impeached by the Republican-led state House in 2023 on allegations of bribery and abuse of public trust, though he was later acquitted by the state Senate after a trial. Last year, Paxton’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, announced that she had filed for divorce from the attorney general “on biblical grounds ... in light of recent discoveries,” but declined to share more about her reasoning. Both events have left a sour taste in some Texas Republicans’ mouths about Paxton and his ability to win a statewide general election, particularly this year, as Republicans hope to hold on to their majorities in the House and Senate. Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., implored Trump’s team to spend in Texas, where Thune estimated advertising costs $8 million a week. “Their resources need to be brought to bear on Texas because it’s not one that we can lose if we’re going to hang on to a Republican majority,” Thune said this week on Fox News. The majority leader’s comments came as some Republicans who are focused on holding the House and Senate this fall have become frustrated with the president’s lack of engagement in midterm campaigning, four people involved in GOP strategy told NBC News. “Somewhere in him, President Trump knows he should care about the midterms and the success of the party,” one of the people said. “But because of that, it’s too early to tell whether he did enough to help.” Specifically, Republicans have pressed the president to spend part of his MAGA Inc. war chest on Senate races as early as possible, particularly in Texas. “The president said he’s going to campaign and he’s going to spend money,” a GOP operative involved in midterm campaigns told NBC News. “Time will tell if he was wrong to wait this long.” On Wednesday, Trump pledged to travel and support GOP candidates, including Paxton, across the country ahead of November’s midterm elections. “We’re going to go to Texas and work for Ken Paxton, who’s a great guy,” the president told reporters. He also addressed his recent criticism of Paxton’s wardrobe, adding: “You might not like the way he looks. You might not love his look. You might not love his television interviews, but he was the best attorney general in the country ... and that speaks a lot louder than the suit he’s wearing that doesn’t look so great.” MAGA Inc. had more than $400 million in the bank as of July 31, according to the group’s most recent fundraising report. The group began rolling out national TV ads highlighting Trump’s agenda earlier this week. Speaking to reporters Friday, the president said he planned to use MAGA Inc.’s war chest to spend up to $500 million boosting Republican candidates in the midterm elections. “I think I have, like, close to a billion dollars in the super PAC, and I’m allocating probably $400 or $500 million. So I’ll be spending, we’ll be spending,” he said. “I’m going to be making contributions to various campaigns of people that I think are good, Republicans that I think are good,” Trump added later. “People that I think are going to win and can win or are close to winning ... I’m going to spend whatever amount of money necessary to try and help us.”