<\/p>\n
Attorney General Ken Paxton, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, waves to attendees before speaking during the Republican convention at American Airlines Center on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n
El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
The dark money cavalry finally arrived to rescue Ken Paxton.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the end of last week, national super PACs started pouring tens of millions of dollars into the race to help the scandal-plagued attorney general catch up with his Democratic opponent James Talarico. That’s because, in addition to his long history of indictments and unethical behavior,\u00a0Paxton’s campaign has also suffered from his lack\u00a0of fundraising prowess.<\/p>\n
Through the misleadingly named Texas PAC, national Republicans purchased more than $50 million<\/a> worth of broadcast TV ads across the state. President Donald Trump\u2019s MAGA Inc. has bought $10 million in ads<\/a>. Elon Musk\u2019s PAC has also\u00a0put more than $2.6 million<\/a> behind Paxton. This outside spending makes up for Talarico\u2019s head-to-head advantage \u2014 he has $21.5 million in the bank while Paxton only has $1.8 million. Overall, Team Paxton now has a 5-to-1 spending<\/a> edge over Team Talarico.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Consider this a political test for Texas: Will outside funds make up for Paxton\u2019s own failure to run a robust campaign?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the answer: Maybe!<\/p>\n Blanketing the airwaves with bizarre ads about how\u00a0Talarico wants to sell Texas to Chinese communists and turn your kids transgender \u2014 combined with the R next to his name on the ballot \u2014 could be enough to help drag Paxton across the finish line.\u00a0<\/p>\n But here\u2019s the question Texans need to ask themselves: What happens next?<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Paxton clearly struggles to do his job without outside help, and those PACs won\u2019t be there to drag him to his desk in the Senate to work for Texans.\u00a0<\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader John Thune won\u2019t be there to make Paxton fight with Trump\u2019s White House<\/a> to deliver the recovery dollars Houston needs after a hurricane.\u00a0<\/p>\n No big-money donor can write a check that makes Paxton improve trade infrastructure<\/a> at the border.\u00a0<\/p>\n Elon Musk isn\u2019t going to ensure Paxton helps prevent domestic violence<\/a> by closing loopholes in gun laws.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those are the sorts of tasks that Sen. John Cornyn took on his own accord.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n To be blunt: If Paxton is too lazy to win an election without billionaires and super PACs paving the way, it\u2019s hard to imagine that he\u2019ll suddenly develop the work ethic to be a productive senator for Texas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison once put it<\/a>, being a senator from Texas is like raising a teenager. There\u2019s always something you have to deal with. But as he showed when he jetted off to London with his paramour for Independence Day, Paxton is more comfortable playing the role of philandering dad than attentive father figure \u2014 metaphorically speaking, of course.<\/p>\n Paxton fans may be tempted to write all of this off as partisan attacks, but honest Republicans are calling out Paxton\u2019s indolence, too \u2014 not to insult him, but specifically because they want him to beat Talarico.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhere\u2019s Paxton?\u201d Fox News host Jesse Watters demanded in an on-air rant<\/a> last month attacking Paxton\u2019s do-little campaign. \u201cI can\u2019t win this race for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Longtime Republican strategist Karl Rove similarly<\/a> warned earlier this month on the Brian Kilmeade Show that Paxton wasn\u2019t putting in the work.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cHe was in Washington the week before the Fourth of July, on that weekend. No fundraiser that I can find. And then on Tuesday, he was seen leaving for Iceland with his latest girlfriend, and then the two of them spent the Fourth of July celebrating in London, England [\u2026] If he wanted to go to London, he should have gone to London, Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n Even Cornyn called him straight-up \u201clazy<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n In comparison, Talarico has been everywhere, from Fox News<\/a> to\u00a0Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/a> \u2014 which so far has tripled the views of President Trump\u2019s prime-time speech<\/a> on Fox last week. Just this past weekend alone, Talarico showed up at Houston\u2019s Emanu El synagogue for Rosh Hashanah on Saturday morning, a University of Texas football watch party at the Kirby Ice House that evening, then Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church<\/a> on Sunday.\u00a0Paxton\u2019s campaign, in comparison, is more reminiscent of Joe Biden. He\u2019s just delivering the same seven-minute somnolent speech and otherwise largely hiding from the public eye.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of course, none of that means that Paxton will be totally useless in Washington. As Texans saw when he was attorney general, Paxton does sometimes put in the work. Who can forget when he spent taxpayer resources to protect Nate Paul<\/a>, a campaign donor who happened to be employing his clandestine lover<\/a>, from a federal investigation<\/a>? In fact, Paxton worked so hard at the task that he ended up getting impeached by his fellow Texas Republicans over it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n So if he makes it to the Senate, maybe Paxton will find a way to summon similar industriousness for the AI multi-billionaire<\/a> who helped him when he needed it the most.\u00a0<\/p>\n As for the rest of Texas, well, we\u2019ll have to hope Sen. Ted Cruz is up to the task.<\/p>\n