James Talarico is staring down November with a serious cash edge. His campaign says the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate pulled in $30 million in the second quarter, a blockbuster haul that tightens an already high-stakes Texas matchup and helps cement the race as one of the country’s priciest this cycle.
The $30 million, raised from April through June, is being touted by the campaign as the largest second-quarter total ever for a U.S. Senate candidate in an election year, according to the Texas Tribune. The campaign told the outlet it has now brought in more than $70 million since launching the bid, off more than 1.5 million donations from roughly 780,000 individual contributors, and said about 97% of contributions were $100 or less. “I’m honored to stand alongside more than 780,000 neighbors,” Talarico said in a campaign statement, according to the campaign.
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton is not exactly passing the hat, either. His campaign announced it raised more than $9 million in the same quarter, a post-primary surge the campaign cast as proof conservatives are rallying behind their nominee, reporting by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram shows. It is Paxton’s personal best quarter, but on paper it still falls far short of Talarico’s eye-popping total.
Supreme Court Ruling Could Narrow The Gap
A late June Supreme Court decision that loosened limits on coordinated spending between parties and campaigns could make Talarico’s cash advantage less decisive by allowing national Republican committees to work more directly with Paxton’s team and run cheaper, larger ad buys, according to the Texas Tribune. If national GOP groups decide to pour coordinated spending into Texas, the headline fundraising gap might not translate neatly into domination on the airwaves.
FEC Reports And Polls To Watch
The next round of campaign finance filings, quarterly reports covering April 1 through June 30, are due July 15, according to the Federal Election Commission. Those disclosures will offer the first public look at cash-on-hand numbers for both sides, a key measure of how much each campaign can actually spend down the stretch.
Late June polling suggests the money race is outpacing the margins with voters. A New York Times/Siena survey found the two nominees essentially tied among likely voters, a snapshot that helps explain why both parties are scrambling to lock in ad buys and donor commitments. The Siena Research Institute posts the poll details.
For now, each side is selling a different story. Democrats are leaning hard on the breadth and small-dollar depth of Talarico’s donor base, while Republicans highlight Paxton’s post-primary bump as evidence that their base and national conservatives are snapping into formation. With filings due July 15 and ad reservations picking up speed, the next few weeks will reveal whether sheer dollars or coordinated party spending end up shaping the opening act of this Texas-sized fall fight.
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