The Texas Senate race has become a staggering Republican spending spree, with GOP-aligned groups poised to pour more than $300 million into Ken Paxton’s campaign.
Republican groups plan to spend $166 million between September and Election Day alone to boost Trump-endorsed Paxton. That is more than the $144 million currently planned for competitive Senate races in Michigan and Maine combined.
Much of that spending has been on ads placed before college football matches or on the TV show Judge Judy.
Texas PAC spent more than $2 million on more than 1,300 football spots and another roughly $600,000 on more than 750 Judge Judy airings.
Pro-Paxton ads appeared 413 times during college football broadcasts in September, according to CNN.
The overall spending has already blown past the previous Texas Senate record of $55 million, set during Ted Cruz’s 2018 race against Beto O’Rourke.
Altogether, Republican-aligned spending in Texas is projected to top $300 million.
“We’ve never seen anything like it” in Texas, a Democratic operative working for Paxton’s rival James Talarico told CNN.
The massive spending comes after Republican groups already spent tens of millions trying to defeat Paxton in the primary, turning the Texas contest into one of the most expensive Senate battles in the country.
Only Ohio is currently set to receive more Republican outside spending. There, GOP Sen. Jon Husted is facing former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Much of the Texas spending is coming through Texas PAC, which is affiliated with the Senate Leadership Fund, the leading Republican Super PAC focused on Senate races.
Trump’s Super PAC MAGA Inc. has also donated $15 million to Paxton’s Senate bid.
But veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove questioned whether the enormous investment makes sense.
“No, but they’re going to have to do it, and that’s just the start,” Rove said Saturday at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin.
He added that the money would only cover spending through September and argued that the race would already be over if John Cornyn had won the Republican nomination.
The Senate Leadership Fund has defended the spending, saying it reflects a commitment to protecting the Republican Senate majority and defeating Talarico. The group also said its Texas operation is not taking money away from other states.
Democrats have now begun fighting back. The Senate Majority PAC announced it will spend money in Texas through Election Day, starting with an anti-Paxton campaign on streaming and digital platforms. It has not disclosed how much it plans to spend.
Talarico has responded with his own advertising, accusing billionaires of spending millions to attack him over his opposition to corporate PAC money, congressional stock trading and gerrymandering. His campaign has secured more than $4 million worth of airtime for the ad this month.
Another Talarico ad has targeted Paxton during Judge Judy, calling him “the most corrupt politician in Texas.”
For now though, the Republican spending advantage is enormous. GOP-aligned groups are projected to outspend Democratic groups more than 5-to-1 during the final two months, $166 million to $32 million.
Yet despite the extraordinary spending, the race remains tight. Five weeks before Election Day, Paxton and Talarico are neck and neck in public polling, while two Democratic operatives told CNN their internal numbers have not shifted significantly since the Republican spending surge began.
That is because Paxton has struggled to explain away his many controversies, including being charged with securities fraud.
He was also impeached by the Republican-controlled Texas House after being accused of corruption, bribery and obstruction of justice. The Texas Senate later acquitted him.
He has also been accused by his wife, Angela, of adultery in a high-profile divorce, which is ongoing.
A Democratic win would mark the party’s first Senate pickup in Texas in decades.
A victory for Talarico would also go a long way toward helping Democrats flip the Senate, with the GOP widely expected to lose control of the House in November.
