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🇺🇸 United States /Elections & Politics

Trump’s first major midterm spending move: $10 million Texas Senate ad blitz

From PBS NewsHour · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • MAGA, Inc., a political group associated with President Donald Trump, reported $10 million in television and digital advertising for the Texas Senate race.
  • The spending targets Democrat James Talarico and supports Republican nominee Ken Paxton in a contest Democrats hope could signal a broader shift in Texas politics.
  • The ads focus on taxes and inflation, while Talarico’s campaign accuses billionaire-backed groups of misrepresenting his record.

MAGA, Inc. is putting $10 million behind television and digital advertising in the Texas Senate race, marking the political group’s first major spending in a premier general election contest this cycle.

The investment reflects the changing stakes around a seat long considered safely Republican. Democrat James Talarico, a 37-year-old state representative, is competing against Republican nominee Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general. President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton, who defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a May primary runoff.

High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans' pockets. MAGA Inc. is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico's radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate.

· Alex PfeifferThe MAGA, Inc. spokesman described the group’s advertising message in a statement.

The advertisements seek to make taxes a central issue while voters remain concerned about persistent inflation. They portray Talarico as pursuing broader tax increases and say Paxton would offer tax breaks to first-time homebuyers and families with children. Talarico has supported higher taxes on wealthier households.

Billionaire-backed dark money groups are lying about James Talarico because they're scared of the people-powered movement we're building to fix this broken, corrupt political system.

· JT EnnisTalarico’s campaign spokesman rejected the Republican-backed advertisements.

“High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans' pockets. MAGA Inc. is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico's radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate,” Alex Pfeiffer, a MAGA, Inc. spokesman, said in a statement.

Talarico campaign spokesman JT Ennis rejected the ads’ characterization of the Democrat’s position. “Billionaire-backed dark money groups are lying about James Talarico because they're scared of the people-powered movement we're building to fix this broken, corrupt political system,” Ennis said. He added that Talarico had supported the largest property tax cut in Texas history and had consistently voted to reduce taxes for working Texans.

I'm going to spend whatever amount of money necessary to try and help us.

· Donald TrumpTrump described his intention to deploy campaign funds to support Republican candidates.

MAGA, Inc. holds at least $400 million in campaign funds that Republican candidates have been waiting for Trump to deploy. “I'm going to spend whatever amount of money necessary to try and help us,” Trump told reporters Friday. He said the money belonged to him and was separate from funds controlled by the Republican National Committee.

This is my money.

· Donald TrumpTrump said the funds were separate from money controlled by the Republican National Committee.
About this summary

Originally published by PBS NewsHour in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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