Talarico campaign reports record $64 million Senate fundraising haul

Texas Democrat James Talarico’s campaign says it raised $64 million from July through September, a record third-quarter haul for a U.S. Senate candidate that gives him a substantial fundraising lead over Republican opponent Ken Paxton.

The figure, announced Thursday, would surpass the $57 million raised by South Carolina Democrat Jaime Harrison in the same period of his unsuccessful 2020 Senate campaign. Talarico’s campaign says it has raised more than $134 million since he entered the race last year.

Paxton, the Texas attorney general, said earlier this month that his campaign and two affiliated fundraising vehicles raised a combined $18 million in the third quarter. NBC News said it could not independently verify the campaigns’ figures; federal fundraising reports due Thursday night should provide more detail on their receipts and spending.

“Grassroots contributors from across Texas are coming together to end billionaire control over our politics and bring down costs for working families,” Talarico, a state legislator, said in a statement. His campaign told NBC News that almost all of its cycle-long fundraising came from contributions of $100 or less, made by more than 1.3 million people.

The money is flowing into a closely watched race in a state where no Democrat has won a Senate election since 1988. Recent polls show Talarico narrowly ahead of Paxton, though NBC News reported that the leads are mostly within the polls’ margins of error.

Paxton defeated incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in the primary earlier this year. Republican outside groups have spent more than $175 million since Sept. 1 to support Paxton and attack Talarico, according to political ad tracking firm AdImpact, as reported by NBC News. CBS News reported that President Donald Trump, a longtime Paxton ally who backed him against Cornyn, has traveled to Texas three times in a month to campaign for him.

Talarico has also spent heavily. AdImpact data show his campaign spent more than $20 million on advertising in the last month, NBC News reported. The network’s analysis found that the campaign also increased its spending on digital fundraising ads during the third quarter.

At a CNN town hall Wednesday night, Talarico emphasized the cost of living, telling voters, “We have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis.” He also said the flu had kept him off the campaign trail for a week and rejected online rumors about his absence.

“I opened up social media and learned that I had apparently dropped out of the race, flown to a mental health facility in Ohio, that I had died,” he said. “This is crazy. I mean, these false claims got millions of views online.” CNN said it had invited Paxton to the town hall but received no response, according to CBS News.

Paxton announced Wednesday that his campaign would kick off a two-week bus tour this weekend near Fort Worth. CBS News reported that the tour will wrap up the night before Election Day at the Alamo. Early voting in Texas begins Monday.