Texas residents are taking aim at the staggering amount of money being spent to support Ken Paxton’s Senate campaign, after new filings revealed a Republican super PAC reported roughly $131 million in independent expenditures over just 17 days. The eye-watering figure works out to more than $7 million a day, prompting some Texans to question what else that kind of money could accomplish in their communities.
According to Newsweek, Federal Election Commission filings show Texas PAC, a Republican super PAC connected to the Senate Leadership Fund, reported $131 million in independent expenditures supporting Paxton over a 17-day period. That works out to roughly $7.7 million a day as Republicans pour resources into the Texas Senate race ahead of November’s election.
The enormous spending comes as Republicans fight to hold onto a Texas Senate seat that has remained in GOP hands for decades. Paxton is facing Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in November, with the closely watched race drawing national attention.
Interestingly, the spending blitz comes after Republicans previously raised concerns about the cost of defending the seat. In August, Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy publicly suggested it could take between $100 million and $200 million to support Paxton in Texas, highlighting just how expensive the race was expected to become.
The flood of money extends well beyond Texas PAC. By the end of September, roughly $259 million had already been spent on advertising in the general election, surpassing the $202 million spent during the entire 2024 Senate battle between Ted Cruz and Colin Allred. When spending from this year’s primaries is included, the total for the 2026 Texas Senate race has climbed to around $432 million.
Texas Residents Rip $131 Million Spending Blitz Supporting Ken Paxton
The staggering amount of money being spent quickly drew criticism from Texans online, with some questioning what else those millions could accomplish closer to home. “Could you imagine spending all that money just to keep from giving teachers a raise?” one Reddit user asked, adding, “Wtf is wrong with these people.”
Another person was even more blunt, describing the spending as “lighting that money on fire,” while someone else wondered, “Imagine what 7 million a day could do for the less fortunate living in Texas.”
Others questioned whether the massive investment would ultimately pay off. “Let them burn their warchest, it’s not gonna help,” one commenter argued.
For another Texan, the sheer amount of money prompted thoughts about how it could theoretically be used elsewhere. “The biggest irony of all of this is if they used that money for something like wiping out school lunch debt or paying medical bills for veterans or cancer care for at-risk children or funding a library-offered community upskilling program, it would do a lot more for a Republican candidacy than a bunch of [expletive] ads,” they wrote.
Not everyone agreed that the spending would prove ineffective, however. Responding directly to the suggestion that it would not help, another commenter pushed back: “Yes it will. Don’t be so naive.”
Ultimately, $131 million is an extraordinary amount of money to pour into supporting a single candidate in just 17 days, and the spending shows just how much is riding on the Texas Senate race. Whether the blitz proves worth every penny remains to be seen, but with November approaching, Texans are unlikely to have seen the last of the big-money battle.
