A political group associated with United States President Donald Trump has announced it will spend $10m on television and digital advertisements in the state of Texas ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
The Saturday filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) represents the first major spend in a general election by MAGA, Inc, a super PAC named for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.
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The advertisements are expected to heavily target Democratic candidate James Talarico, a 37-year-old state representative running for the US Senate against Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Speculation abounds that Democrats may have a chance of flipping one of Texas’s Senate seats for the first time since 1993.
Paxton has weathered a series of scandals, even facing a state impeachment trial. Still, Democrats have repeatedly faced withering defeats in Texas, having failed to win a statewide office there in more than three decades.
In a statement on Saturday, MAGA, Inc sought to portray Talarico as out of touch with everyday Texans.
“High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans’ pockets,” spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer said. “MAGA Inc is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico’s radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the US Senate.”
While Texas is often seen as a Republican stronghold, Trump’s deepening unpopularity and cost-of-living concerns have bolstered Democrats like Talarico ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Republicans currently hold slim majorities in both chambers of Congress. But Democrats are hoping to flip a few key seats to break the Republicans’ hold on the legislature.
Whoever wins control of Congress will likely be able to shape the legislative agenda of Trump’s final two years as president.
The advertisements announced on Saturday will focus on tax policy, accusing Democrats of seeking tax hikes that would burden voters.
Democrats, meanwhile, have traditionally accused Republicans of awarding tax breaks to the most affluent.
That criticism re-emerged last year, when the Republican-led Congress passed Trump’s signature piece of legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, along party lines.
In addition to increasing spending on Trump priorities like defence and immigration, the bill also made permanent the tax breaks Trump had debuted during his first term and increased exemptions for federal estate taxes.
Critics pointed out that those tax cuts would largely benefit wealthier earners.
In response to criticism of his economic policy, Talarico’s campaign accused the candidate’s right-wing opponents of pouring outside money into the race and misrepresenting his record.
“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,” campaign spokesperson JT Ennis said in response to Saturday’s announcement.
“James was proud to vote for the largest property tax cut in Texas history and has consistently voted to cut taxes for working Texans.”
Texas has been a focal point of Republican strategy throughout the midterm campaign season.
Last year, Trump officials petitioned Texas lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional map in a way that gives Republicans an advantage in winning five extra seats in the House of Representatives.
After Texas followed through, other Republican-led states followed suit, with Democrats mounting similar efforts in states like California.
This week, Trump will also travel to Dallas, Texas, to headline a first-ever Republican midterm convention. He will speak at both nights of the gathering.
Trump has made himself a centrepiece of Republican strategy in the lead-up to the midterms, travelling around the country to hold rallies and support party members. “What I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot,” he told a rally in South Carolina last month.
But questions have emerged about the large sum of money gathered by MAGA Inc — and whether it would be distributed to down-ballot Republican candidates.
Faced with such questions, Trump told reporters on Friday that he planned to allocate between $400m and $500m from MAGA, Inc to help Republicans in the midterms.
Trump has also used his influence to shape Republican primaries across the country, boosting his preferred candidates.
The president’s endorsement, for instance, helped Paxton defeat incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the party’s May primary, despite concerns that the attorney general’s scandals could damage his chances in the general election.
