The eighth-generation Texan, former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian is running against Trump-backed Ken Paxton.<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Few outside Texas had heard of middle-school teacher turned state lawmaker and seminarian James Talarico before he kicked off a run of high-profile podcast and television appearances last year. <\/p>\n
On his media tour, the eighth generation Texan made his stance on money in politics clear. He told Joe Rogan that \u201cit doesn\u2019t matter who the elected officials are if these billionaires buy whoever\u2019s elected.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the U.S. Senate candidate\u2019s attacks on billionaires\u2014which he has called \u201cthe only minority destroying America\u201d\u2014have not deterred at least seven billionaires from lending the Texan their financial support. Talarico\u2019s campaign and super PACs supporting his candidacy have received at least $2.5 million in total from billionaire households, according to a Forbes analysis. Talarico\u2019s billionaire backers amassed their wealth mainly in tech or finance. Many have a track record of supporting Democrats in nationwide races, though a couple are power brokers in Texas politics who have given money to candidates from both parties. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf any billionaire wants to tax themselves more and limit their political influence, they\u2019re welcome to help defeat politicians like Ken Paxton,\u201d Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis tells Forbes. The campaign adds that 97% of Talarico\u2019s donations in the first quarter of 2026 were $100 or less. Paxton, the Republican attorney general of Texas since 2015, attracted several billionaire supporters of his own in his successful primary challenge to incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn but not as many as Talarico.<\/p>\n
Talarico won his primary on March 3; the latest federal campaign filings only cover activity through the end of March, which means more billionaires may have already thrown their support behind him. Despite his anti-billionaire rhetoric, he attended several Bay Area fundraisers with prominent Democratic Party donors this week, reported<\/a> Politico. With mountains of cash expected to flow into this race before the November general election as Democrats seek to flip a Senate seat, even more members of the three-comma club might be cutting the anti-billionaire candidate a check soon. <\/p>\n For now, here are the seven billionaires already in Talarico\u2019s corner. <\/p>\n Reid HoffmanDonations to Talarico Groups: $1.5 millionNet Worth: $2.7 billionSource of Wealth: LinkedIn<\/p>\n Hoffman, who made his fortune in Silicon Valley as an early PayPal executive and cofounder of LinkedIn, described himself last year as \u201cmore of a centrist than anything else\u201d who dislikes \u201cthe extremes on both sides\u201d. Still he\u2019s best known as a consistent backer of the Democratic Party and has already given over $2.2 million to groups aligned with the party in 2026, including $1.5 million to Lone Star Rising, a super PAC supporting Talarico. More recently, Hoffman has tussled with Trump, whose administration is investigating Hoffman and his nonprofit for donations to E. Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist who accused President Trump of sexual assault. <\/p>\n Stephen Mandel Jr.Donations to Talarico Groups: $500,000Net Worth: $5 billionSource of Wealth: Hedge funds<\/p>\n The billionaire founder of Lone Pine Capital has a long history of giving to the Democratic Party, dating back at least as far as 1992, when he donated $1,000 to Bill Clinton\u2019s campaign. Mandel and his wife contributed $6.9 million to Kamala Harris\u2019 2024 presidential bid, and donated half a million to the Lone Star Rising super PAC. Mandel is also a large donor to the charter school movement and sits on the board of Teach for America.<\/p>\n Tench and Simone CoxeDonations to Talarico Groups: About $500,000Net Worth: $8.6 billionSource of Wealth: Venture capital <\/p>\n The third largest individual shareholder in Nvidia, venture capitalist Coxe and his wife Simone, a former public relations executive, collectively contributed $2 million to support Texas Democrat Beto O\u2019Rourke\u2019s gubernatorial challenge to Greg Abbott in 2022. This time around, Simone gave $500,000 to a pro-Talarico super PAC, and Tench \u2014 who has a bipartisan giving history, including supporting Mitt Romney\u2019s presidential campaign in 2012 \u2014 and Simone each donated thousands to Talarico\u2019s official fundraising committee. <\/p>\n John and Laura ArnoldDonations to Talarico Groups: $7,000Net Worth: $2.8 billionSource of Wealth: Hedge funds<\/p>\n A highly successful energy trader at Enron, he and his wife Laura have spent the past 14 years giving away much of their fortune\u2014more than $2 billion so far, to everything from criminal justice reform to community college. A lifelong Texas resident, Arnold has supported both Democratic and Republican candidates in his home state and has given $100,000 to a Texas-based pro-charter school PAC. He and Laura each contributed $3,500 to Talarico\u2019s campaign committee. The Arnolds also hedged their bets, contributing to incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, who lost the Republican nomination to Ken Paxton.<\/p>\n Henry and Marsha LauferDonations to Talarico Groups: $7,000Net Worth: $3.2 billionSource of Wealth: Hedge funds<\/p>\n Laufer left his post as Stony Brook University mathematics professor in 1992 to join Jim Simons\u2019 powerhouse quantitative hedge fund Renaissance Technologies. A reliable Democratic donor, Laufer was one of the top givers to Harris-aligned groups in 2024. Laufer and his wife, Marsha, have each donated $3,500 to the Talarico campaign.<\/p>\n Dirk and Natasha ZiffDonations to Talarico Groups: $7,000Net Worth: $7.2 billionSource of Wealth: Investments<\/p>\n Ziff, who inherited his grandfather\u2019s publishing fortune along with his two brothers, has supported Democratic candidates nationwide. The Ziff Capital Partners founder has given over $1.5 million to left wing groups since 2020. He and his wife, Natasha, a former Forbes reporter, each donated $3,500 to the Talarico campaign. <\/p>\n Laurie TischDonations to Talarico Groups: $5,000Net Worth: $2.2 billionSource of Wealth: Loews, New York Giants<\/p>\n An heir to the fortune by the Loews Corp. conglomerate, Tisch has donated almost $200,000 to Democratic congressional candidates in races nationwide in 2026, including $5,000 to Talarico\u2019s campaign committee. The New York-based Tisch also gave $150,000 to an Andrew Cuomo-aligned super PAC in 2025, in an attempt to thwart the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City. She is the first cousin once removed of Mayor Mamdani\u2019s NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. <\/p>\n MORE FROM FORBES<\/p>\n ForbesHow Eric Trump Got Rich From Bitcoin While Losing Investors A FortuneBy Dan Alexander<\/a>ForbesInside Donald Trump\u2019s Billion-Dollar Golf EmpireBy Brett Knight<\/a>ForbesHow Much Graham Platner, Maine\u2019s Oyster-Farming Senate Candidate, Is WorthBy Kyle Khan-Mullins<\/a>ForbesHere\u2019s How Much Donald Trump Is WorthBy Dan Alexander<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The eighth-generation Texan, former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian is running against Trump-backed Ken Paxton. 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