(The Center Square) -- With 50 days left before Election Day, Republican groups are pouring money into supporting the U.S. Senate campaign of Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The once Republican stronghold seat is now considered a toss-up as Paxton is trailing his Democratic opponent, state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, in multiple polls, The Center Square reported.
A Democrat hasn’t held the U.S. Senate seat that Talarico and Paxton are running for since Lyndon B. Johnson, The Center Square reported. Johnson was the last Democrat elected to the seat in 1948. He resigned in 1961 to become U.S. vice president.
His appointed replacement lost his election to Republican John Tower in 1961. Republican Phil Gramm was next elected to the seat, followed by John Cornyn in 2002. Paxton defeated Cornyn in the May Republican runoff election.
With Republican U.S. Senate seats on the line in November, and after the first midterm Republican Convention was held in Dallas, the Senate Leadership Fund’s Texas PAC placed nearly $42 million in ad buys in Texas, Medium Buying reported.
Previously, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-SD, endorsed Cornyn. Other groups also held off financially supporting Paxton, referring to him as “scandal plagued.”
Paxton was the first attorney general impeached in Texas history, including by 60 House Republicans. He was acquitted along party lines.
In the last year, Paxton has lost Republican and high-profile Christian endorsements who cited multiple allegations of marital infidelity, including from his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, who filed for divorce.
More Republicans have endorsed Talarico, including Paxton’s former staff and attorney who represented him for more than a decade while fighting federal securities fraud charges, The Center Square reported.
After Paxton won the primary, Thune said, “we’ve got to pivot and go all in to make sure that we keep Texas red, that he wins, and that we keep a far-left liberal out of the United States Senate. Obviously, that seat is going to be very key to our majority, which will determine the future of this country.”
Republicans booed Thune at the convention.
The SLF infusion of funds comes after Trump’s super PAC has spent $10 million on ad buys and billionaire Elon Musk’s America PAC donated $1.6 million both in support of Paxton.
Trump’s PAC is sitting on $400 million, raising questions as to why he hasn’t poured more money into Paxton’s campaign.
The infusion of funds comes after Paxton’s campaign has failed to raise enough money to compete with Talarico. Paxton has raised $9 million compared to Talarico’s $30 million in the same quarter.
“The sudden cash shows that Republicans — who were once hesitant about Paxton’s bid and opposed him in the primary — have rallied behind him amidst signs that he could become the first Republican to lose a Senate race in the state in nearly four decades. They plan to do whatever they can to hold onto the Senate majority this fall,” Politico reported.
Meanwhile, Cornyn has been campaigning and raising money for other U.S. Senate Republican candidates in other states and has not endorsed Paxton. His former legislative director, Jacob Smith, was also hired by Talarico’s campaign as its Deputy Policy Director.
Critics argue SLF funds should help Republicans who need the support in tighter races in purple states, not in a Republican state like Texas.
Cornyn, who has historically raised hundreds of millions of dollars for his peers, is raising money for Republicans in New Hampshire, Michigan, Alaska, and other states in close races.
Texas can be a “black hole when it comes to campaign cash”, Cornyn told the Texas Tribune, explaining that the money he raises for other Republicans will go farther.
“Paxton’s a poor campaigner,” Cornyn added. “He’s lazy and doesn’t raise money. And he basically is not offering a very compelling case for his election. He’s making this harder than it needs to be. But so be it — we are where we are.”
Paxton’s campaign didn’t respond to requests for comment about Cornyn’s comments, but Paxton said on Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s podcast that he welcome Cornyn’s help and would have voted for him “10 times” before Talarico.
Paxton’s campaign also says its $9 million fundraising haul during the second quarter “sends a clear signal that conservatives are rallying behind” his campaign. “The massive haul, largely raised in just one month, is the largest quarterly fundraising haul announced by an [sic] non-incumbent Republican Senate candidate in the country so far this cycle.”
“These numbers reflect what we see on the campaign trail every day: Texans are energized to send a proven conservative fighter to the United States Senate,” his campaign said in an email. “Ken Paxton is building a movement to defend the Lone Star State by uniting every Republican across the country to defeat James Talarico, the most radical and well-funded Democrat running in Texas history. But the job is far from finished. We will continue to raise the funds necessary to expose James Talarico’s record, keep Texas strong, protect our elections, defend our freedoms, and keep Texas out of the radical left’s grip.”
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