MAGA Inc., the super PAC aligned with President Donald Trump, plans to spend $10 million dollars in the Texas Senate race, according to a report filed with the FEC.
Page F2From§Eachthe sunrise edition — 6 September 2026
MAGA Inc sat out the cycle until Rove said time was running out, then sent Paxton $10 million.
As it ran on the front
The ledger on MAGA Inc.'s general election spending read zero for most of the cycle. Not literally zero — the super PAC had written one check, roughly $800,000, to a candidate named Darline Graham, months back. But its own line for the marquee race, the one Republicans call the seat that decides the Senate majority, sat blank.
That blank line got a visitor before it got a check. On August 27, President Trump traveled to Texas to boost Ken Paxton's campaign in person. The same day, a poll from Texas Public Opinion Research showed Democrat James Talarico leading Paxton, 47 percent saying they'd back him. The trip added attention. It did not add money.…
…(cont) Texas Republicans kept asking for the money instead. On September 1, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Fox News's Martha MacCallum the party would "need" Trump's help funding the race. That same day, Paxton's own outside group, Lone Star Liberty PAC, spent $15 million on two ads running in 18 Texas markets — money raised without MAGA Inc.'s name on it, because MAGA Inc.'s name still wasn't on anything.
On September 2, a second poll tightened the race to 0.6 points, Talarico still ahead. The same day, Talarico's campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing Paxton and his campaign treasurer of illegally routing $1 million to a Paxton-aligned super PAC.
One day after that complaint, on September 3, Republican strategist Karl Rove supplied the number that had been missing from the ledger: a clock. "Time is running out," Rove told The Hill, adding that if the president wanted Paxton to win, he needed to start "tossing" money the race's way.
Two days after Rove's clock started, the blank line filled in. A Saturday FEC filing showed MAGA Inc. sending $10 million to a political media company, Del Ray Media, to fund two attack ads against Talarico — the group's first general election expenditure of the entire cycle, per the New York Times, landing the same week a formal complaint accused the same campaign of moving one-tenth that amount illegally.
The ledger now reads: zero for the field, $800,000 for Darline Graham, $1 million under FEC complaint, $10 million for Paxton. Whichever column that money is supposed to land in, hon, it isn't the one marked "sat out."
“They tell you there's no money — not for your kid's school, not for the roads, not for anything that isn't a battleship or a border wall. Then the same week a campaign gets accused of moving a million bucks that wasn't supposed to move, the war chest finds ten million more for that exact guy, overnight. That's not a coincidence, that's a bill getting paid right on schedule — the only clock that's actually running out is yours.”
“Look, this is just disciplined capital allocation — you watch the polling, you wait for the race to tighten, and you deploy resources when they'll move numbers, that's just smart management, not panic. And the complaint? That's the other side's lawyers doing what lawyers do, it's an allegation, nothing's been — did I just call it an allegation? I meant it's nothing. The timing with Karl's comments is completely unrelated, MAGA Inc. would've written that check on this exact Saturday no matter what anybody said on Wednesday.”
The receipts
MAGA Inc., the political action group aligned with President Donald Trump, is spending $10 million on television and digital advertising to support Republican Ken Paxton in the closely watched Texas Senate race, according to a Saturday filing with the Federal Election Commission. The spending marks MAGA Inc.’s first major expenditure in…
Paxton and Democrat state Rep. James Talarico are locked in a tight race in which polls continually show the two candidates neck and neck.
MAGA Inc. drops $10 million in ads backing Ken Paxton against James Talarico in a neck and neck Texas Senate race that could reshape the midterms.
President Trump's MAGA Inc. super PAC had previously only given one donation this midterm cycle: about $800,000 to Darline Graham.
President Trump’s super-PAC MAGA Inc. gave $10 million in support of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's (R) Senate campaign ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings published Saturday. The $10 million payment, given to political media company, Del Ray Media, funded two attack ads…
A financial filing announcing the TV and digital ad buy is the first general election spending by MAGA Inc. The group intends to boost the Republican nominee, Ken Paxton.
· Talarico leads Paxton for Texas Senate while Hinojosa trails Abbott in governor's race: Poll from the morgue, 27 Aug 2026
· Dark money in Texas Senate race spurs Talarico complaint to FEC against Paxton from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· Rove: 'Time is running out' for Paxton in Texas Senate race from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· Trump boosts Paxton amid GOP worries over Texas Senate flip from the morgue, 27 Aug 2026
· Dem James Talarico notches slight lead over GOP AG Ken Paxton in competitive Texas Senate race from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· Paxton allies plan $15 million ad campaign from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· Thune says ‘we’re going to need’ Trump to help with pricey Texas Senate race from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.