Trump-backed group announces $10m ad spend for midterm Senate race in Texas

US president has pledged more than $400m through his super PAC to boost Republican candidates in the upcoming midterms.

US President Donald Trump and his allies have raised hundreds of millions of dollars through the super PAC MAGA, Inc [Kent Nishimura/AFP]

A political group associated with United States President Donald Trump has announced it will spend $10m on television and digital advertisements in the state of Texas ahead of the upcoming midterm elections .

The Saturday filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) represents the first major spend in a general election by MAGA, Inc, a super PAC named for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.

list 1 of 3 ‘Small potatoes’: US President Trump downplays war on Iran

list 2 of 3 Mock Republican convention website tops Google, redirects to Epstein files

list 3 of 3 Missouri Supreme Court blocks Trump-backed map from November’s midterms

The advertisements are expected to heavily target Democratic candidate James Talarico , a 37-year-old state representative running for the US Senate against Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton .

Speculation abounds that Democrats may have a chance of flipping one of Texas’s Senate seats for the first time since 1993.

Paxton has weathered a series of scandals, even facing a state impeachment trial. Still, Democrats have repeatedly faced withering defeats in Texas, having failed to win a statewide office there in more than three decades.

In a statement on Saturday, MAGA, Inc sought to portray Talarico as out of touch with everyday Texans.

“High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans’ pockets,” spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer said. “MAGA Inc is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico’s radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the US Senate.”

While Texas is often seen as a Republican stronghold, Trump’s deepening unpopularity and cost-of-living concerns have bolstered Democrats like Talarico ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Republicans currently hold slim majorities in both chambers of Congress. But Democrats are hoping to flip a few key seats to break the Republicans’ hold on the legislature.

Whoever wins control of Congress will likely be able to shape the legislative agenda of Trump’s final two years as president.

The advertisements announced on Saturday will focus on tax policy, accusing Democrats of seeking tax hikes that would burden voters.

Democrats, meanwhile, have traditionally accused Republicans of awarding tax breaks to the most affluent.

That criticism re-emerged last year, when the Republican-led Congress passed Trump’s signature piece of legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, along party lines.

In addition to increasing spending on Trump priorities like defence and immigration, the bill also made permanent the tax breaks Trump had debuted during his first term and increased exemptions for federal estate taxes.

Critics pointed out that those tax cuts would largely benefit wealthier earners.

In response to criticism of his economic policy, Talarico’s campaign accused the candidate’s right-wing opponents of pouring outside money into the race and misrepresenting his record.

“Billionaire-backed dark money groups are lying about James Talarico because they’re scared of the people-powered movement we’re building to fix this broken, corrupt political system,” campaign spokesperson JT Ennis said in response to Saturday’s announcement.

“James was proud to vote for the largest property tax cut in Texas history and has consistently voted to cut taxes for working Texans.”

Texas has been a focal point of Republican strategy throughout the midterm campaign season.

Last year, Trump officials petitioned Texas lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional map in a way that gives Republicans an advantage in winning five extra seats in the House of Representatives.

After Texas followed through, other Republican-led states followed suit, with Democrats mounting similar efforts in states like California.

This week, Trump will also travel to Dallas, Texas, to headline a first-ever Republican midterm convention. He will speak at both nights of the gathering.

Trump has made himself a centrepiece of Republican strategy in the lead-up to the midterms, travelling around the country to hold rallies and support party members. “What I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot,” he told a rally in South Carolina last month.

But questions have emerged about the large sum of money gathered by MAGA Inc — and whether it would be distributed to down-ballot Republican candidates.

Faced with such questions, Trump told reporters on Friday that he planned to allocate between $400m and $500m from MAGA, Inc to help Republicans in the midterms.

Trump has also used his influence to shape Republican primaries across the country, boosting his preferred candidates.

The president’s endorsement , for instance, helped Paxton defeat incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the party’s May primary, despite concerns that the attorney general’s scandals could damage his chances in the general election.

美国总统已通过其超级政治行动委员会承诺投入超过4亿美元，以支持共和党候选人在即将到来的中期选举中获胜。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普及其盟友通过超级政治行动委员会“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）筹集了数亿美元。[肯特·西村/法新社]

与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普有关联的一个政治团体宣布，将在即将到来的中期选举前，在德克萨斯州的电视和数字广告上花费 1000 万美元。

周六向联邦选举委员会 (FEC) 提交的文件标志着 MAGA, Inc.（一个以特朗普的“让美国再次伟大”运动命名的超级政治行动委员会）首次在大选中进行重大支出。

列表 1/3 “小事一桩”：美国总统特朗普淡化对伊朗的战争

3个模拟共和党大会网站中的第2个在谷歌搜索结果中排名第一，并重定向到爱泼斯坦文件。

密苏里州最高法院阻止特朗普支持的选区地图在11月中期选举中使用（共3条，此为第3条）

预计这些广告将重点针对民主党候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科，这位 37 岁的州众议员正在竞选美国参议员，他的对手是特朗普支持的德克萨斯州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿。

外界普遍猜测，民主党人或许有机会自 1993 年以来首次赢得德克萨斯州的一个参议院席位。

帕克斯顿经历了一系列丑闻，甚至还面临过州弹劾审判。尽管如此，民主党在德克萨斯州却屡遭惨败，三十多年来从未赢得过任何州级公职。

MAGA公司周六发表声明，试图将塔拉里科描绘成与普通德州民众脱节的人。

“高税收的塔拉里科想从德州人的口袋里掏钱，”发言人亚历克斯·普费弗说。“MAGA公司将确保德州人民了解塔拉里科的激进政策，并选举肯·帕克斯顿进入美国参议院。”

虽然德克萨斯州通常被视为共和党的堡垒，但特朗普日益低迷的支持率和生活成本问题，在11月的中期选举前，提振了像塔拉里科这样的民主党人的支持率。

共和党目前在国会两院都仅占微弱多数。但民主党希望能够赢得几个关键席位，打破共和党对立法机构的控制。

无论谁赢得国会的控制权，都可能左右特朗普总统最后两年的立法议程。

周六公布的广告将聚焦税收政策，指责民主党人寻求提高税收，这将加重选民的负担。

与此同时，民主党人历来指责共和党人向最富裕的人提供税收优惠。

去年，共和党控制的国会按照党派路线通过了特朗普的标志性法案《一个美好的大法案》，当时这种批评再次出现。

除了增加对特朗普优先事项（如国防和移民）的支出外，该法案还将特朗普在其第一任期内推出的税收优惠永久化，并提高了联邦遗产税的免税额。

批评人士指出，这些减税措施将主要使高收入者受益。

针对对其经济政策的批评，塔拉里科的竞选团队指责这位候选人的右翼对手向竞选活动投入外部资金，并歪曲了他的政绩。

竞选发言人 JT Ennis 在回应周六的声明时表示：“亿万富翁支持的黑钱组织对 James Talarico 撒谎，因为他们害怕我们正在建立的、旨在修复这个破碎、腐败的政治体系的人民运动。”

“詹姆斯曾自豪地投票支持德克萨斯州历史上最大规模的房产税减免，并且一直以来都投票支持为德克萨斯州的工薪阶层减税。”

在整个中期选举竞选季，德克萨斯州一直是共和党战略的重点。

去年，特朗普政府官员向德克萨斯州议员请愿，要求重新划分该州的国会选区，以使共和党在众议院赢得五个额外席位方面占据优势。

德克萨斯州采取行动后，其他共和党执政的州也纷纷效仿，而民主党人在加利福尼亚州等州也采取了类似的行动。

本周，特朗普还将前往德克萨斯州达拉斯市，出席共和党历史上首次中期选举大会并发表讲话。他将在大会的两晚都发表演讲。

在即将到来的中期选举中，特朗普已成为共和党战略的核心人物，他奔走于全国各地举行集会，支持党员。“我真正希望你们做的，是假装我的名字出现在选票上，”他上个月在南卡罗来纳州的一次集会上说道。

但人们对 MAGA Inc. 筹集的大量资金提出了质疑——这些资金是否会分配给共和党下级候选人。

面对这些问题，特朗普周五告诉记者，他计划从“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）组织中拨款 4 亿至 5 亿美元，以帮助共和党人在中期选举中获胜。

特朗普还利用自己的影响力左右全国各地的共和党初选，提拔他支持的候选人。

例如，总统的支持帮助帕克斯顿在五月份的党内初选中击败了现任参议员约翰·科宁，尽管有人担心这位司法部长的丑闻可能会损害他在大选中的机会。