Talarico Fundraising Total Hits $82 Million
with $10 Million from 1 Super PAC Booster

Capitol Inside
July 16, 2026

Democrat James Talarico raised almost $26 million for a fledgling U.S. Senate bid in the past three months when a super PAC that's backing him rounded up $12 million more with a rare eight-digit donation coming courtesy of a single donor. GOP foe Ken Paxton - in sharp contrast - reported contributions of $1.6 million for the second quarter of 2026 while a super PAC that's supporting him added $2 million to the total take.

The Democrat's potentially insurmountable lead in the donor dollar chase in the Texas Senate contest came at a time when Republicans had massive advantages in fundraising for most of the most competitive down-ballot races here at the state level this year.

The Talarico for Texas has raised almost $66 million on top of $16 million that the Lone Star Rising PAC has generated for his campaign for the Senate this year. That adds up to a whopping $82 million when the two are factored together.

Paxton has been telling supporters this week that he raised $9 million in the 2nd quarter of 2026. But the Ken Paxton for Texas committee listed only $1.6 million in new money during the three-month span while the Lone Star Liberty PAC corralled $2 million to share with the state attorney general in the Texas Senate competition this fall. That's $3.2 million in three months when the two sources of support for the state attorney general are counted together.

Paxton may have been confusing the second-quarter tally with the total sum that he's reported to the Federal Election Committee - which is $9.2 million over the course of 10 months as a candidate for the federal post. The Republican Senate nominee's campaign committee and the pro-Paxton super PAC have raised nearly $15 million combined for the quest.

The pro-Talarico Lone Star Rising PAC scored a contribution of $10 million from Reid Hoffman, a LinkedIn co-founder who's based in the Seattle area. Paxton opened an investigation into LinkedIn on Tuesday amid allegations that it made money off bogus help wanted advertisements that the Texas attorney general referred to as "ghost jobs."

The timing of the probe and revelations on Hoffman's largess on the Democrat's behalf in the Texas Senate contest could raise the specter that the AG investigation is more than coincidental.

Talarico's second-quarter haul matched Governor Greg Abbott's fundraising for the past four months since the March 3 primary election. Abbott has raised more than $71 million since the start of 2025 compared to $65.9 million that the Talarico for Texas committee has raked in when the supplemental super PAC infusion is not taken into account.

Abbott held the record for the largest single individual contribution when he received $6 million in late 2023 from Pennsylvania investor Jeff Yas, the leading investor in TikTok who'd emerged as a major school choice advocate.

Axios: John Cornyn donors largely keep distance from Ken Paxton

Few major donors to Senator John Cornyn have thrown their weight behind GOP Senate nominee Ken Paxton since the Texas attorney general defeated Cornyn in a May runoff, per an Axios analysis of newly released federal…

— Politics & Poll Tracker ?? (@PollTracker2024) July 17, 2026