Source reporting: Dallas Express
Trump-aligned political committee MAGA Inc. reported $10 million in independent expenditures in Texas’ U.S. Senate race, according to a Dallas Express review of a Federal Election Commission filing.
The committee’s 48-hour report, filed September 5, lists two expenditures of $5 million each through Del Ray Media LLC. One supported Republican nominee and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, while the other opposed Democratic nominee and state Rep. James Talarico. The filing says the connected-television and digital advertising was disseminated September 5.
Independent expenditures are outside spending, not contributions transferred to a candidate’s campaign. The report certified that the advertising was not coordinated with either candidate or a political party. That distinction matters because federal campaign-finance rules require independent groups to disclose spending while barring coordination with the campaigns they support or oppose.
The Dallas Express reported that MAGA Inc. held about $403.45 million in cash after reporting approximately $400.68 million in receipts during the 2025-26 cycle through July 31. The Texas purchase represented roughly 2.5 percent of that cash and was the committee’s largest single independent-expenditure disclosure of 2026 at the time of the report.
The spending arrives as national attention increases around the Texas contest. The Cook Political Report moved the race from Lean Republican to Toss Up on August 20. Recent University of Texas and Emerson polling cited by the Dallas Express showed close margins, but both results fell within their reported margins of error or credibility intervals.
Campaign filings through June 30 showed a substantial fundraising difference before the new outside expenditure. Talarico’s campaign reported $68.56 million in receipts and $21.55 million in cash. Paxton’s authorized committees reported $9.25 million in receipts and $1.76 million in cash. Those totals exclude joint fundraising organizations and independent spending such as the MAGA Inc. purchase.
The advertisements focus on taxes and affordability and make disputed claims about Talarico’s voting record and policy positions. The Dallas Express examined several of those assertions and reported that some omit important context. The claims are campaign advocacy, not neutral findings.
The public-integrity significance is the scale and source of outside money entering a competitive statewide election. Voters can use FEC disclosures to distinguish candidate-controlled spending from independent advocacy, identify vendors and monitor whether additional expenditures reshape the race.