James Talarico
Texas Democrat facing Paxton in the 2026 US Senate general election.
On 23 September, TEXAS PAC had spent $32.57m against James Talarico in the Texas Senate race, placing his Democratic campaign at the centre of an escalating outside-money contest.
Last refreshed: 24 September 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can James Talarico's $27M grassroots haul make Texas a genuine Senate battleground?
Timeline for James Talarico
Texas PAC's Senate spending hits $131.5m
US Midterms 2026Opposed by $32.57m of Texas PAC spending
US Midterms 2026: Texas PAC hits $69.3m in Paxton race$85m of Texas ads, no donor named
US Midterms 2026Entered the November general election as Democratic challenger to Paxton
US Midterms 2026: Paxton routs Cornyn despite nine-to-one spendRaised $27 million in Q1 2026 — national quarterly Senate record — from 540,000-plus donors
US Midterms 2026: Crypto PAC pulls Paxton ad under GOP pressureBackground
James Talarico is a Texas Democrat and state representative running for the US Senate. His 2026 campaign faces Ken Paxton after Paxton won the Republican runoff on 26 May, taking 63.8% to John Cornyn's 36%.
Talarico's profile is defined by the task of mounting a statewide Democratic campaign in Texas. His role in the Senate contest makes him the named target of Independent political spending, including $32.57m reported by TEXAS PAC as spent against him by 21 September.
The available evidence records his candidacy and the financial pressure around it, but not a fuller legislative record or durable biographical detail. This page therefore centres on his public office and Senate campaign rather than claims that the bundle does not support.
Outside groups target Talarico
By 15 September, two outside groups, TEXAS PAC and No Going Back PAC Inc., had put over $85m into advertising in Talarico's race without naming a single donor in their filings, leaving him to campaign against spending whose backers were not yet public.
By 21 September, TEXAS PAC alone had reported $69.32m in total race spending, including $32.57m against Talarico. The scale makes Independent expenditure a direct condition of his general-election campaign, rather than background noise around the Republican contest. The committee was not required to identify a donor before its 15 October Federal Election Commission report.