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AUSTIN (Nexstar) – With Election Day days away, the Republican Senate runoff between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton has become the most expensive Senate primary in U.S. history.
The race has become a showcase for the growing influence of outside political spending. Texas Tribune Washington Correspondent Gabby Birenbaum has reported on the role of spending by megadonors and so-called dark money groups in the race.
“It’s been not just the campaigns, but these massive super PACs that have come in for both Cornyn and Paxton, influenced by a handful of megadonors,” Birenbaum said. She explained that many groups funnel money through organizations that do not have to disclose donors.
“These groups sort of funnel their money through these complex channels and then are able to spend hundreds of thousands, or millions on the race,” she said.
Birenbaum said it’s important for voters to understand just how much money is being used to shape the outcome of the race.
“In the case of the Senate race, there’s been over $130 million spent to try to influence the outcome,” Birenbaum said. “I think your vote is more important than ever and more valuable than ever. So it’s important to both know who’s behind some of these efforts, but then also know just the power of your vote and how deeply these groups are courting it,” she added.
While the spending has surged, voter turnout for the runoff is uncertain. At the end of the early voting period, the Texas Secretary of State’s office showed nearly 820,000 voters had cast ballots in the Republican runoff. That works out to 4.39% turnout.
Rice University Political Science professor and Texas pollster Mark P. Jones projected that Republican turnout could reach between 1 million and 1.25 million. “Potentially up to 1.5 million if there’s a big election day push,” Jones said.
Jones believes higher turnout could help Cornyn.
“The lower turnout is, the better that is for candidates like say Ken Paxton… the people who turn out to vote in these primaries tend to be the more conservative Republicans,” Jones said.
Another factor to watch is the late endorsement for Ken Paxton from President Donald Trump. The endorsement came Tuesday, one day after early voting started. Trump has strong support among Texas Republicans, and most of the candidates he endorses win their primary elections.
“This has clearly changed the dynamics of the race, taking it from being one where Cornyn was a modest underdog to one where Cornyn’s a pretty substantial underdog and it would take a minor miracle for him to win on Tuesday,” Jones said.
Cornyn still believes he has a path to victory.
“At this point nothing much else matters, except votes. Make yours count. Texas is worth fighting for,” he posted on X after the endorsement.
After deadly floods, new warning system aims to save lives
Less than a year after the deadly July 4 flooding that killed more than 130 people, Kerr County has installed new outdoor flood warning sirens along the Guadalupe River.
Six sirens are now installed and operational in flood-prone areas as part of a broader statewide push to improve emergency warning systems.
The sirens will be at least 50 feet tall, will broadcast alert tones and voice messages, run on two forms of power and will be controlled locally and remotely from two base stations in Kerrville, the UGRA said.
In the aftermath of the flood, Gov. Abbott signed SB 3, requiring 30 flood prone counties to install, and maintain, sirens. Each county is eligible for up to $1.25 million in grant money reimbursement.
Judge orders release of Texas teen detained weeks before graduation
With less than two weeks until graduation, an Austin Independent School District high school senior has been released from immigration detention and is back in school.
A federal judge ordered the release of Luis Fernando Cabrera. The 18-year-old had been held at the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center after a DPS traffic stop involving an expired registration. In court filings, U.S. District Judge Jason Pulliam said Cabrera had no known criminal history, did not pose a flight risk or danger to the community and had complied with conditions of a prior release.
Austin ISD senior sends letter to supporters after being released from detention
His case highlights the state’s growing use of 287(g) agreements between local law enforcement agencies and ICE.
Cabrera entered the country with family members in 2019. They came to the country seeking asylum. Court records show that since 2020 Cabrera has had an open case with the government, and his attorney said that he’s been complying with his asylum proceedings.
Texas lawmakers push back on multi-billion dollar power line project
A growing group of Texas lawmakers is opposing a proposed multi-billion dollar transmission line project designed to move electricity across Texas.
The project would create three new 765-kilovolt transmission lines. It was approved as part of a statewide reliability plan following the 2021 winter storm.
Texas lawmakers push back on massive 765-kV transmission line project
Citizens in several parts of the state have pushed back against the plan. Now they’re getting support from some state lawmakers. A letter signed by 25 state legislators argues the transmission project exceeds what lawmakers intended when they passed legislation aimed at improving grid reliability.
Supporters of the project argue the transmission lines are needed to handle rapid population growth and future energy demand across the state.
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