Trump's PAC Spends $10 Million in Texas. None in California House Races.

Ken Paxton faces Democrat James Talarico in a Texas race Republicans need to hold their Senate majority.

President Donald Trump's super PAC has disclosed $10 million in advertising to boost Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general running for the U.S. Senate, CNN reported on September 5, 2026. It's the first major midterm outlay by the group, MAGA Inc., after months of Republican unease about being outspent.

A net gain of four seats in November would hand Democrats the Senate majority, CNN reported, and Texas is a Republican-held seat the party is defending. Every dollar that goes to Paxton is a dollar not going to a House race somewhere else on the map.

As of September 6, 2026, MAGA Inc. had reported no spending in a California congressional race.

The scale of what's behind the Texas buy is the part worth sitting with: the group finished July with more than $400 million in the bank, and Trump said Friday he'd spend as much as $500 million in outside money he oversees, CNN reported.

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

Paxton is running against Democrat James Talarico, a Texas state representative who had the airwaves largely to himself for stretches of the summer, the outlet reported. One of the first MAGA Inc. spots casts Paxton as the candidate with a plan to cut what Texans pay, and MAGA Inc. spokesman Alex Pfeiffer said in a statement that the group would make sure voters hear about Talarico's record on taxes.

Talarico's campaign called the claims false. “Billionaire-backed dark money groups are lying about James Talarico because they're scared of the people-powered movement we're building,” campaign spokesperson JT Ennis said in a statement, adding that Talarico voted for the largest property tax cut in state history.

Trump backed Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary, a choice that worried party operatives about the cost of selling Paxton to a general-election audience, CNN reported. The Texas House of Representatives voted in 2023 to impeach Paxton over allegations of bribery and corruption; the Texas Senate acquitted him on all charges. Talarico put out his first negative ad about Paxton late last month, built on those allegations.

MAGA Inc. isn't the only outside money moving. America PAC, aligned with Elon Musk, began spending on Paxton's behalf this week, as we reported.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund, both of which lined up behind Cornyn in the primary, had looked to MAGA Inc. to carry the general election, CNN previously reported.

Republicans are due in Texas within days for a midterm convention aimed at turning out GOP voters.

Source: cnn.com, retrieved September 6, 2026.