(CNN) — After years of battling fellow Republicans and helping lead the culture wars in Texas, Ken Paxton is campaigning on tax deductions, appearing with state lawmakers who once voted to impeach him, and openly appealing to the Washington establishment for financial help.
It’s all part of Paxton’s efforts to unify his party after a bruising primary and pivot to a general election where he is already polling neck-and-neck with Democrat James Talarico. And it’s an unusual position for Paxton, a veteran of intra-party fights in state races now waging a competitive general election that could determine control of the US Senate.
Texas Republicans are openly worried about losing a statewide race for the first time in three decades. Sen. Ted Cruz, who has been working privately to introduce Paxton to donors, recently said he expected the race “could be decided by a point or two,” which would be tighter than Cruz’s close call against Democrat Beto O’Rourke in 2018. And Michael Berry, a prominent conservative radio host, opened an interview with Paxton on Tuesday by saying he is in “a tough race.”
“I know there is a lot of frustration. I hear it,” Berry told Paxton. “What’s the Paxton campaign doing? What’s the path to victory? Let’s talk about fundraising. I know that’s been difficult. You beat a 24-year incumbent, obviously stepped on a lot of toes. There’s been some concern. Will there be the money there to run the campaign it takes to win?”
Paxton has made significant inroads with Republicans in Austin and Washington, visiting DC recently for a fundraiser that was attended by Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other members. But it remains an open question how much outside funding Washington Republicans will pony up for the race – and whether Paxton and the GOP can unite enough to stave off a loss that could endanger the party’s control of the Senate.
“We need help now,” Paxton said in a Fox News interview Sunday, suggesting his campaign was trying to raise enough money so it could start airing TV ads next month.
Paxton is working to shore up support from Republicans after he defeated longtime Sen. John Cornyn in a May runoff with a late endorsement from President Donald Trump. The general election is unique in that neither Cornyn nor Rep. Jasmine Crockett, the Democratic primary runner-up, is actively campaigning for their party’s nominee. But polling shows it is Paxton who trails Talarico in consolidating support from his party’s voters.
Only a few House Republicans from Texas supported Paxton against Cornyn, but on Wednesday, Paxton’s campaign touted that he now had the backing of 18 out of the 24 Republican members in the state’s US House delegation – and that it signaled “unity.”
Talarico has long staked his campaign on a populist economic message that cuts across party lines. He sought to set the tone for the rest of the election with a slickly produced rally last week in Arlington where he was introduced by Glen Whitley, who was a Republican when he served as Tarrant County judge from 2007 to 2022.
“We have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis,” Talarico said at the rally, blaming “billionaires buying politicians like Ken Paxton.”
Talarico has also appealed to Cornyn supporters recently by praising the senator for sending a letter to the Trump administration raising concerns about border wall construction in Big Bend National Park. And after Paxton touted his latest congressional endorsements, Talarico’s campaign issued a statement questioning why six House Republicans from Texas were still withholding their support. The group includes Reps. Michael McCaul, Dan Crenshaw and Chip Roy, all of whom are leaving the House after this year.
“I think that (Talarico’s) got a chance with a small number of (Republican) voters – and he may only need a small number of voters,” said Katherine Fischer, executive director of Texas Majority PAC.
Talarico has had a weekslong head start on TV advertising that his allies hope will help inoculate him from any coming ramp-up in GOP spending. Paxton has warned supporters that Talarico has gotten off to an early start in “trying to convince people that he’s a moderate Democrat when he’s not.”
Talarico’s campaign has spent $21 million on ads since the runoff compared to $100,000 by Paxton’s campaign, according to AdImpact data. Even with an expected GOP ad blitz this summer and fall, a super PAC supporting Talarico, Lone Star Rising PAC, has yet to start seriously spending on his behalf. It had nearly $13 million in the bank heading into July.
GOP operatives in Texas and DC believe a group like the Senate Leadership Fund, the top GOP super PAC in Senate races that worked hard to try to defeat Paxton in the primary election, or MAGA Inc., the pro-Trump super PAC sitting on $400 million, will ultimately need to spend big to get Paxton over the finish line.
One national GOP strategist who works on Senate races likened the situation to three Spiderman characters pointing at one another in a triangle.
“Everybody wants him to win, but nobody wants to go first,” the strategist said.
A spokesperson for the Senate Leadership Fund, which is closely aligned with Thune, said in a statement that the group was “confident” Paxton would win but otherwise would not address any spending plans.
Paxton could be especially helped by the recent Supreme Court decision that struck down limits on coordinating spending between candidates and political parties. The National Republican Senatorial Committee pointed to that ruling when asked about the race for this story.
“The fall of coordinated spending limits means the NRSC can discuss spending decisions directly with our candidates and their campaigns,” NRSC spokeswoman Joanna Rodriguez said in a statement. “The era of raising the curtain on strategy for press and the Democrats we’re looking to defeat is over.”
The chairman of the NRSC, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, brushed off concerns about Paxton in a recent interview with CNN’s Manu Raju. Scott said the GOP’s strategy for the race is “strong” and that it would be “very well-funded.”
As for MAGA Inc., Scott noted the group recently briefed Senate Republicans on its plans for the midterms.
“We know that they’re going to be fully engaged,” Scott said.
Paxton’s unity process
Paxton has spent recent days campaigning on an economic plan that proposes new and increased tax deductions for health care, housing and children. In doing so, he has debuted rhetoric that is a stark departure from the red-meat sparring of the primary.
“Washington is making it harder than ever to get ahead, and the American dream is slipping away as the cost of everything, from housing to healthcare, rises,” Paxton said in a video unveiling the economic agenda.
To be sure, Paxton’ stump speech still features ample attacks on Talarico and his history of controversial comments on social issues, such as Talarico’s 2021 declaration that “God is nonbinary.”
He has been introduced at some events by some of his biggest intra-party detractors in the past.
One of them, at a Paxton stop in the Dallas suburb of Allen, was state Rep. Jeff Leach, who once called Paxton a “sophisticated criminal” and helped lead the 2023 impeachment against him in the Texas House on accusations of repeatedly abusing his office to help a donor. The Texas Senate acquitted Paxton.
Some of the GOP converts to Paxton have been more seamless than others. Paul Perez, head of the National Border Patrol Council, said it was an “easy and natural transition” to Paxton because the union already had a “longstanding relationship” with him even while supporting Cornyn previously.
“At the end of the day, it’s bigger than a person,” Perez said. “I think that’s what everybody is looking at, is, ‘How can we defeat the Democratic nominee?’”
After sitting out of the primary, one of Texas’ top conservative donors, Tim Dunn, has started helping Paxton again after boosting him earlier in his political career. A super PAC funded by Dunn recently disclosed that it was spending $100,000 on text messages opposing Talarico.
The calls for Republican unity even extend to Texans for Lawsuit Reform, a pillar of the GOP establishment in Texas that Paxton has long vilified.
“Whatever difference Republicans have with each other, they pale in comparison to the abyss between common-sense policies around a strong economy and pro-consumer affordability vs the sharp leftward swing of the modern-day Democratic Party,” the group’s CEO, Ryan Patrick, said in a statement.
Among statewide officials, Gov. Greg Abbott has taken the lead on rallying Republicans since the primary, campaigning on a slogan of “Unity Drives Victory.” Some Republicans hope the strength of Abbott’s well-funded reelection campaign will help Paxton.
Not all Republicans are ready to embrace Paxton. Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, a former Cornyn supporter and a top elected official in an important battleground county, remains neutral in the general election, a spokesperson confirmed.
Erik Gomez, mayor of the South Texas city of Sabinal and a prominent surrogate for Cornyn during the primary, is not ready to formally back Paxton. During the primary, Gomez questioned Paxton’s ability to win in November and highlighted his personal issues, including Paxton’s alleged extramarital affairs.
But Gomez said he was encouraged after a Paxton campaign staffer reached out a couple weeks ago. They plan to meet soon.
“That’s a sign of a good gesture and good faith, reaching out to me,” Gomez said. “I wasn’t easy on the attorney general in my posts and on my campaign trail.”
Gomez said he hoped he could speak with the Paxton campaign about some policy issues, its path to victory and unifying the party. He noted he still sees “Paxton supporters throwing jabs at Cornyn supporters.”
“I personally want to see that stop,” Gomez said.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.