Talarico campaign fundraising numbers dwarf rival Paxton’s with $30 million haul
Progressive policy ambitions meet practical realities as Americans weigh costs and consequences.
Thirty million dollars in a single quarter is not a Texas number, it's a national number. Somebody outside Texas decided James Talarico is the vehicle for turning that seat blue, and they wired the money accordingly. Paxton's haul, by comparison, looks like a local race.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico’s campaign announced on Wednesday it had raked in $30 million in donations, more than triple the figure Republican rival Ken Paxton was able to fundraise in one of the country’s most closely watched races.
Talarico, a state representative, is challenging Paxton, Texas’s attorney general, in a bid to succeed […]
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
Thirty million dollars in a single quarter is not a Texas number, it's a national number. Somebody outside Texas decided James Talarico is the vehicle for turning that seat blue, and they wired the money accordingly. Paxton's haul, by comparison, looks like a local race. That gap should worry Republicans, but not for the reason Democrats want it to.
Money like that doesn't come from grassroots enthusiasm about a state representative most Texans couldn't have named a year ago. It comes from small-dollar donor networks and national email lists that light up whenever the DNC decides a race is "winnable." Talarico's fresh face and folksy Bible-study routine make him an easy sell to donors in California and New York who've never set foot in Round Rock. That's fine, campaigns need cash, but let's not pretend this reflects some grassroots Texas revolt against Paxton.
Paxton has real baggage, and Republicans should say so plainly instead of pretending otherwise. Years of legal trouble and a messy personal life gave national Democrats an opening they'd normally never get in Texas. But a fundraising gap built on outrage marketing and out-of-state money isn't the same as a shift in how Texans actually vote. Beto O'Rourke raised more money than any Republican in Texas history and still lost twice.
The real test isn't the bank account, it's turnout in Waco and Tyler and Lubbock come next fall. Money buys ads, not votes, and Texas Republicans would do well to remember that before they start panicking over a press release.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.