Trump’s PAC wades into midterms with $10 million ad buy to boost Ken Paxton

By Kaanita Iyer, Patrick Svitek, Fredreka Schouten, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s super PAC has started spending its massive war chest on the midterm elections, disclosing ad buys totaling $10 million in support of Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton.

Republicans had long awaited action from MAGA Inc., growing anxious over being outspent in tough races that could determine which party controls Congress. Paxton is in a tight contest against Democrat James Talarico, who had the airwaves largely to himself for weeks this summer.

MAGA Inc. had more than $400 million in cash on hand at the end of July. On Friday, Trump vowed to spend as much as $500 million in outside money that he oversees.

“We’re going to spend a lot of money because we don’t want to lose our country,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

One of the first pro-Paxton ads from MAGA Inc. casts the Republican as confronting the rising costs Texans face with proposals to reduce their tax bills.

“High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans’ pockets,” MAGA, Inc. spokesman Alex Pfeiffer said in a statement on Saturday. “MAGA Inc. is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico’s radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate.”

Talarico’s campaign shot back, calling the claims untruthful and a sign of GOP anxiety over the tight race.

“Billionaire-backed dark money groups are lying about James Talarico because they’re scared of the people-powered movement we’re building to fix this broken, corrupt political system,” campaign spokesperson JT Ennis said in a statement later on Saturday. “James was proud to vote for the largest property tax cut in Texas history and has consistently voted to cut taxes for working Texans.”

Together with new spending from a super PAC aligned with billionaire Elon Musk, a wave of Republican cash to aid Paxton could change the contours of a race critical to the GOP’s hopes of retaining control of the chamber after November’s midterm elections. Democrats need to net just four seats to win the Senate majority.

The influx of money from MAGA Inc. to help Paxton comes just days before Republicans are scheduled to convene in Texas for a one-of-a-kind midterm convention aimed at engaging GOP voters.

Trump’s decision earlier this year to back Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the primary election had raised concerns about the high price of making the controversial Paxton more appealing to voters in the general election.

Paxton, who currently serves as Texas’ attorney general, has faced a long list of scandals over the years, including a 2023 impeachment vote by the state House of Representatives over allegations of bribery and corruption. The state Senate later acquitted him of all the charges. Late last month, Talarico, a Texas state representative, unveiled his first negative ad about Paxton, attacking him over the allegations of corruption.

CNN previously reported that the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund, both of which strongly backed Cornyn in the primary, had looked to MAGA Inc. to take the lead in backing Paxton in the general election.

This story has been updated to include new details.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.