As Election Day nears, candidates seeking to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate are raising—and spending—large sums of money, their campaign finance reports show.
Candidates and political action committees, or PACs, involved in federal races had until midnight Oct. 15 to submit reports detailing their fundraising and spending from the third quarter of 2026. Libertarian Ted Brown, Republican Ken Paxton, the pro-Paxton Lone Star Liberty PAC, Democrat James Talarico and the pro-Talarico Lone Star Rising PAC all filed those reports with the Federal Election Commission by the deadline.
Check out Community Impact's Q&A to meet the three candidates and get their perspectives on key issues impacting Texas residents.
What you need to know
During the third quarter of the year—July 1 through Sept. 30—Democrat James Talarico raised $60.2 million and spent $67.2 million, according to his campaign finance report. The Austin state representative had $14.6 million on hand at the end of the reporting period.
Republican Ken Paxton, the state's current attorney general, reported raising $10.2 million in the third quarter of the year and spending $7.1 million, ending the reporting period with $4.9 million on hand.
In that period, Libertarian Ted Brown's campaign finance report shows he raised about $5,208 and spent $3,410. Brown, a retired small business owner, had about $2,949 on hand at the end of the reporting period.
The outside groups supporting Talarico and Paxton also raised millions of dollars last quarter:
Lone Star Rising PAC, the main outside group backing Talarico, reported raising $9.6 million in the third quarter of the year, with top contributions from Silicon Valley business executive Chris Larson and Houston philanthropist Susan Sarofim.
Lone Star Liberty PAC, the main outside group fundraising for Paxton, reported raising $17.9 million in the third quarter of 2026, with top contributions from Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX; and the Republican-aligned Senate Leadership Fund PAC.
Looking ahead
Early voting in Texas' midterm election runs from Oct. 19-30, and Election Day is Nov. 3.
By Oct. 22, candidates and PACs are required to file campaign finance reports detailing the amount of money they received and spent from Oct. 1-14, known as pre-general election reports. According to the FEC, post-general election and year-end reports will also be due in the coming months.
Texans can view a personalized sample ballot with information about dozens of candidates and local propositions at communityimpact.com/voter-guide.
