President Donald Trump attended a Republican National Committee (RNC) fundraiser in Houston last week that was touted as a lifeline for Ken Paxton’s struggling U.S. Senate campaign.
But the Wall Street Journal reports that last Thursday’s event is far from a fundraising slam-dunk for Texas’ Republican attorney general as he aims for the upper chamber. Proceeds went to the RNC instead, and it remains to be seen how much the organization will actually funnel to the scandal-mired Paxton.
Ahead of the trip, the Houston Chronicle cited Trump’s characterization of his “mission in Houston” as an effort to “save Ken Paxton.”
“I’m going to help Ken Paxton, and I’m going to spend a lot of time in Texas,” the president told reporters as he prepared to leave the White House.
The Paxton campaign is hurting financially. According to the campaigns’ latest FEC filings, Talarico has raised roughly $69 million compared to Paxton’s $9 million. Talarico has also spent $27 million on TV ads since July 1 compared to less than $200,000 for Paxton.
“We need help,” Paxton told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo earlier this month. “I want to compete. I want to be able to tell people exactly what he believes, because I am convinced when Texas [knows] those issues that nobody actually believes, he will not be elected in the state of Texas.”
But the RNC has more than just Paxton’s race to worry about. With Trump’s unpopularity at record lows, the Democrats are well positioned to retake the U.S. House, according to political observers.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report also shifted its rating of the open Senate races in Iowa and Texas from “Lean Republican” to “Toss Up” last month, showing that the Senate also could be in play even though Trump won those states by double digits in 2024.
RNC chairman Joe Gruters told the Dallas Morning News earlier this summer that he’s determined to help Paxton as much as he can while also dealing with tight midterm battles around the country.
“We’ll do whatever is needed to make sure Ken Paxton is going to get over the finish line as the winner,” Gruters said.
Unlike Paxton, the RNC isn’t struggling. The fundraising group had more than $129 million in the bank as of July 1, compared to the Democratic National Committee’s $20 million war chest, federal filings show.
Far-right billionaire Elon Musk could come to Paxton’s rescue with a much-needed cash infusion of up to $200 million, but Wired reports that even that sum, whatever it ends up being, would also be funneled through the RNC.
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