Talarico touts Texas roots as out-of-state cash powers Senate campaign
Donors from outside of Texas accounted for roughly 50% of the funds Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico received during the final stretch of the first quarter of 2026, compared to his Republican opponent, who received just about 25% of his cash from out of state.
Of the $8.5 million Talarico raised between February 12 and March 31, a period where he saw a significant uptick in donations owing to his growing national profile, approximately $4 million came from states other than Texas, according to campaign finance records reviewed by Fox News Digital. The Republican nominee, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, meanwhile, raised $640,000 out of the roughly $850,000 he brought in during that period from within Texas.
The fundraising disparity underscores the nationalization of Texas’ Senate race, with Talarico drawing major financial support from Democratic donors and executives far beyond the state he seeks to represent, even as he campaigns on Texas roots and opposition to outside special interests. The haul gives Democrats a cash advantage in what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive Senate races this cycle, while giving Republicans an opening to cast Talarico’s campaign as powered by coastal liberal donors rather than Texas voters.
Donors from New York and California, for instance, showered Talarico with more than $1.3 million in the final six weeks of quarter one, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Talarico has made an effort to highlight his ties to Texas during his Senate campaign, touting the fact that his family has lived in the state for eight generations and criticizing the influence of out-of-state interests on Texans.
"I’ve led the fight against the billionaire mega-donors that have rigged the system against working Texas families," Talarico’s campaign website reads. "Now, as those same billionaire mega-donors take over the federal government, we need more fighters in Washington who will take power back for working people."
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"James is proud to be the only candidate in this race not taking a dime of corporate PAC money, shattering grassroots fundraising records with donations from 246 Texas counties and the help of over 540,000 small dollar contributors — unlike John Cornyn and Ken Paxton, who have raked in millions of dollars from special interests and enriched their billionaire donors while working Texans struggle," campaign spokesman JT Ennis told Fox News Digital when asked about out-of-state donations.
"Our campaign is bringing Democrats, Republicans and Independents together to fix this broken, corrupt political system and bring down costs for families across our state."
Talarico accepted donations from out-of-state executives at Google, Warner Brothers, Apple, Meta, Victoria’s Secret, and other major companies between February 12 and March 31, per FEC records. The Democratic Senate hopeful has also accepted donations from lobbyists representing major corporations such as Google, AirBnB, Boeing, Novo Nordisk, Comcast, CVS and JP Morgan.
While Talarico has attracted considerable support from outside of Texas, his fundraising operation within the state has also eclipsed that of Paxton, who raised less than one-fifth as much from Texans as his Democratic opponent. Paxton, however, fought a brutal primary against Sen. John Cornyn, splitting the GOP donor base.
Beyond his campaign committee, Talarico has also benefited from Lone Star Rising PAC, a super PAC spending millions to help him win. In contrast to his campaign rhetoric, much of the cash behind the super PAC boosting Talarico’s campaign came from wealthy out-of-state donors.
Just 12% of the millions of dollars in donations collected by Lone Star Rising PAC, which the Washington Free Beacon reports is run by Talarico’s longtime friend, came from entities within Texas, according to campaign finance records.