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The campaign of Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico raised more than $30 million in the second quarter of this year, as the 37-year-old looks to become the first Democrat from the state elected to the upper chamber in nearly four decades.
In a release, Talarico’s campaign said it raised the most money of any Senate candidate in the second quarter of an election year on record. Since September, Talarico’s operation has raised more than $70.2 million, with his campaign noting more than 780,000 people have donated money.
Talarico, a member of the Texas House since 2018, said he was “honored to stand alongside” his supporters, whom he said “are tired of being divided into teams — red versus blue, left versus right, rural versus urban.”
He added, “We are uniting Texans onto one team to change this broken, corrupt political system and bring down costs for working families.”
Talarico’s second-quarter contributions are more than triple what the campaign for state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee, raised from April through June.
Paxton, who trounced incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) in the June GOP runoff, raised $9 million in the second quarter — which the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) said was the most for any nonincumbent Republican Senate candidate this election cycle.
Samantha Caldwell, a regional press secretary for the NRSC, said Wednesday the GOP is “rallying behind” Paxton to “keep Texas red and secure President Trump’s Senate majority.”
Recent polling in the race indicates it will be tight in November, with Cornyn’s seat one of six Democrats have their eye on flipping. The minority party needs to flip four seats, and hold on to the others already in its grasp, to retake control of the upper chamber.
The two candidates were tied with 47 percent support each among 656 respondents in a poll conducted last month by The New York Times and Siena University. Six percent of respondents did not back a candidate or refused to respond, while less than 1 percent backed another candidate — Libertarian Ted Brown, who is also running.
Talarico received support from 61 percent of Hispanic respondents, after a majority of Hispanic voters in the Lone Star State backed President Trump in 2024. Talarico also led Paxton by 27 points among independent respondents and by 18 points among women, while Paxton had a significant edge among men and Texans outside of urban areas.
The survey, which the pollsters conducted from June 19 through 27, had a margin of error of less than 1.4 percentage points.
On the campaign trail, Talarico has leaned into populist economic messaging, lamenting that corporations and special interest groups have “way too much influence” on both parties.
The Presbyterian seminarian has also repeatedly gone after Paxton for ethical shortcomings. A grand jury indicted Paxton for felony securities fraud in 2015, with Paxton agreeing to pay $300,000 in exchange for prosecutors dropping the charges in 2024.
The Texas House, controlled by Republicans, voted to impeach Paxton in 2023 amid allegations of corruption, but the Texas Senate acquitted him later that year.
Paxton’s estranged wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton (R), also filed for divorce from him last year amid claims of infidelity.
Less than 4 in 10 respondents to the New York Times/Siena University poll said Paxton had “good character,” while 56 percent said that about Talarico.
Paxton and Senate Republicans, meanwhile, have gone after Talarico for views they argue are not in line with the majority of Texans — particularly on social issues.
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