Story perspectives

Senate Leadership Fund’s $100M Texas ad blitz boosts Paxton

By Drooid · Sep 23, 2026, 2:48 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

NBC5 poll shows Democrat James Talarico at 46% and Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton at 43%.
Senate Leadership Fund announced a $100 million ad buy in Texas, adding $30 million to its spend.
Republican total spending in the general election exceeds $140 million, while Democrats spend under $30 million.
Texas PAC spent nearly $66 million for Paxton and about $22 million for Talarico in September.

History

Historical Context

The 1994 Republican Revolution, driven by Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America, gave Republicans a 54-seat House swing and eight Senate pickups, ending a 42-year House minority and flipping the South for the first time since Reconstruction. That realignment, highlighted by Kay Bailey Hutchison’s 1993 Texas Senate win, set a precedent for massive, coordinated campaign spending that echoes today’s multi-hundred-million Texas ad buys.

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Story summary

NBC5 poll shows Democrat James Talarico at 46% and Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton at 43%.
Senate Leadership Fund announced a $100 million ad buy in Texas, adding $30 million to its spend.
Republican total spending in the general election exceeds $140 million, while Democrats spend under $30 million.
Texas PAC spent nearly $66 million for Paxton and about $22 million for Talarico in September.

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