President Donald Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC is putting at least $10 million behind Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his Senate race against Democrat James Talarico.
A Federal Election Commission filing submitted Saturday shows the group plans to spend $5 million promoting Paxton and another $5 million attacking Talarico. The filing marks MAGA Inc.’s first reported investment in the fall campaign ahead of the November midterm elections.
MAGA Inc. spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer said Saturday that the group plans to focus its campaign on Talarico’s tax record and other policy positions.
“High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans’ pockets,” Pfeiffer said. “MAGA Inc. is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico’s radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate.”
Before entering the Texas race, MAGA Inc.’s only major midterm expenditure was an $827,000 payment benefiting Sen. Darline Graham’s campaign in South Carolina. The group had otherwise spent roughly $18,000 on a midterm contest this year, following about $1.7 million in spending last year. It raised approximately $401 million through the end of the second quarter.
Trump said Friday that the super PAC could use between $400 million and $500 million of its roughly $1 billion in available funds to help Republican candidates.
“I’m going to spend whatever amount of money necessary to try and help us,” Trump told reporters.
Paxton is set to face Talarico in November after the Democrat defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) in the March primary. Paxton secured the Republican nomination after defeating incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the May runoff.
The Texas contest is expected to be among the races that could decide control of the Senate. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority.
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