BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — The political group associated with President Donald Trump is spending $10 million on television and digital advertisements in the Texas Senate race, according to a Saturday filing with the Federal Election Commission.
This is the first significant spending in a premier general election contest by MAGA, Inc., and reflects how a once-safe Republican seat in Texas may be viable for Democrats with the candidacy of James Talarico, a 37-year-old state representative.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is the Republican nominee in the race. Trump’s endorsement helped Paxton to defeat the incumbent, Sen. John Cornyn, in a May primary runoff election.
Public disapproval of Trump over the economy and the Iran war has been a headwind for many Republican candidates. Voters generally go against the party in control of the White House in midterm elections and Democrats are hoping to gain control of the House and Senate — with Texas being a symbolically powerful indication of how the political map might be expanding this year.
The ads seek to highlight taxes as a dominant issue at a time when many voters have expressed concerns about continued inflation. Talarico has favored higher taxes on wealthier households and the two ads seek to portray him as seeking tax hikes more broadly while claiming that Paxton would give tax breaks to first-time homebuyers and families with children.
READ MORE: Plan to cut polling sites in major Texas county draws protests as Senate battle looms
The key piece of legislation signed into law by Trump last year enhanced and extended many of his expiring tax breaks from his 2017 overhaul. But that measure also increased budget deficits, which has contributed to higher interest rates on the national debt. Trump has also hiked tariffs, which are taxes on imports, to try to raise revenue.
“High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans’ pockets. MAGA Inc. is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico’s radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate,” Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for MAGA, Inc., said in a statement Saturday.
Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis pushed back against the ads’ claims that the Democrat seeks broad tax hikes.
“Billionaire-backed dark money groups are lying about James Talarico because they’re scared of the people-powered movement we’re building to fix this broken, corrupt political system,” Ennis said in a statement. “James was proud to vote for the largest property tax cut in Texas history and has consistently voted to cut taxes for working Texans.”
MAGA, Inc., has at least $400 million in campaign funds that GOP candidates have been waiting for the president to deploy.
“I’m going to spend whatever amount of money necessary to try and help us,” Trump told reporters on Friday.
The president stressed that these were his funds to spend as he sees fit.
“This is my money,” Trump said, adding that it was “separate” from funds controlled by the Republican National Committee.
READ MORE: Ken Paxton has survived years of scandals. Can James Talarico change that?
The president also said he could hold some of the funds until the 2028 elections “if that’s what I want.” Trump is constitutionally barred from running for a third presidential term.
Trump backed Paxton despite the Texas politician’s public scandals, but he has acknowledged this past week that Paxton is not the most telegenic candidate.
“It’s so insulting to him, but I might as well say it: You might not like the way he looks, you might not love his look, you might not love his television interviews, but he was the best attorney general in the country, perhaps,” Trump said Wednesday at a White House event on the midterm elections.
Republicans in battleground states have been clamoring for the president to open his wallet and spend some of the enormous war chest he has amassed.
James Blair, who runs the president’s midterm political operation, had tried to tamp down growing concern and impatience earlier this week.
“When it’s all said and done, all Republicans, at least, will be quite pleased and relieved at the support they find,” he said at an Ohio energy summit.
AP national political reporter Jill Colvin contributed to this report.
