Texas Senate Race Is the Most Expensive Non-Presidential Contest on Record at $573.2 Million in Ads
AdImpact's accounting puts $573.2 million of advertising behind the Paxton-Talarico race — a $165.7 million primary plus $407.5 million in the general — as Texas voters decide it Tuesday.
The battle for one of Texas' U.S. Senate seats is now the most expensive race for an elected office other than the presidency, according to an analysis from AdImpact reported by KSAT and read by the desk this cycle. Between the primaries and the general election, a combined $573.2 million has been spent or reserved to advertise for either Ken Paxton or James Talarico — $165.7 million in a primary that saw Paxton oust incumbent John Cornyn, and another $407.5 million in general-election advertising and reservations. Texas is only the second non-presidential race in history to cross $500 million, after Ohio's 2024 Senate contest at $542.7 million, and this cycle is the first in which two non-presidential races have exceeded $500 million in the same year.
Half of the spend has not been driven by donations to the candidates but by political action committees, KSAT reported: super PACs cannot be tied to a single candidate, but unlike candidates they face no limits on the size of donations they may accept. In the general election, Republican advertisers have outspent Democrats by $140.7 million, AdImpact said, with Paxton receiving $251.7 million in advertising support from outside groups against $30.6 million for Talarico; the Senate Leadership Fund-aligned Texas PAC spent $182.1 million supporting Paxton and attacking Talarico, the eighth-highest-spending advertiser of the cycle. Elon Musk has donated at least $168 million to political action committees supporting Paxton, according to CNN reporting carried by KSAT, while Talarico is the top fundraiser of the 2026 midterms at $146 million raised, against Paxton's $22 million.
The money has not bought certainty. Democratic advertisers had the airwaves nearly to themselves until mid-August — $21.4 million spent against $2.5 million by Republicans before the Republican outside money arrived — and the final public polls of the race still show Talarico ahead, including the final surveys putting him up 50 to 43 in one late accounting. Texas voters settle the most expensive non-presidential race in American history on Tuesday, with polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
