Texas Gov Abbott weighs in on Senate race, amps up Republican fundraising, voting goals

Gov. Greg Abbott has weighed in on the race for U.S. Senate race, noting that the Democratic candidate not only broke Texas but national fundraising records.

“James Talarico didn’t just break records in Texas with Q1 haul, he outraised EVERY Senate campaign across the country,” Abbott said in a campaign news release Monday. “Make no mistake: the $40 MILLION and 540,000 DONORS Talarico has amassed will be unleashed to get Democrats to the polls in every corner of Texas. The Democrats are not sitting this one out. They are targeting our candidates with a level of resources this state has never seen.”

State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, is running for U.S. Senate, hoping to flip the seat blue for the first time since 1993.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is being challenged by Attorney General Ken Paxton in a May 26 runoff.

Talarico outraised both of them: nearly triple what Cornyn raised and more than 12 times what Paxton raised and more than any other candidate for U.S. Senate in the first quarter, a record $27 million.

It was “the largest amount ever raised by a U.S. Senate candidate in the first quarter of an election year,” his campaign said.

Since Talarico launched his campaign last September, he’s raised more than $40 million through more than 970,000 donations, his campaign said. Donations came from more than 540,000 donors from 246 of Texas’ 254 counties. The campaign received no money from corporate PACs, it said.

“Grassroots contributors from almost every county in Texas they're sending Washington, D.C. a clear message: they're tired of this broken, corrupt political system and they're ready to take back Texas for working people,” Talerico said. “We're bringing Democrats, Republicans, and Independents together to end billionaire control over our politics and bring down costs for families across our state.”

He also said 97% of contributions to his campaign were for $100 or less. While Cornyn and Paxton continue to spend millions in a divisive runoff, Talarico said he is building a broad coalition of support that “rises above party politics with the message that the biggest fight in this country is not left versus right, it’s top versus bottom.”

After winning the March 3 primary, Talarico’s campaign brought in $10 million with nearly $9.9 million cash on hand by the end of last month, according to his Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.

Abbott, who’s neither endorsed Cornyn nor Paxton, is working to help raise money and get Republicans get elected in Texas. He says his mission “is to defend the values that make Texas the greatest state in the nation,” continuing to deliver “on some of the biggest conservative victories in our state’s history.”

They include “the largest school choice program in the nation, empowering Texas parents to decide how and where their kids are educated,” delivering “a record $50 billion in property tax relief,” border security efforts, defending Texas sovereignty from federal overreach, strengthening election integrity, religious liberty and Second Amendment rights, among other initiatives.

Abbott is running for his fourth term. If reelected in November, he will be the longest serving governor in state history. Since he’s been in office, the Texas economy has grown from $1.585 trillion in 2015 to $2.9 trillion in 2025 and consistently ranks as the top state for business, economic and job growth, The Center Square reported.

Cornyn’s campaign raised nearly $9 million in the first quarter, including $3.4 million in the four weeks after the March 3 primary. Paxton’s campaign raised nearly $2.2 million in the first quarter, according to campaign finance records.

In response to what’s at stake in the Senate race, Madeline Waschak, Texans for Greg Abbott Deputy Press Secretary, told The Center Square, "The national Democrat machine, bankrolled by ActBlue, their illegal foreign funding conduit, and out-of-state liberals, is pouring millions into Texas to dismantle our values and way of life. We are in a fight for our future. Conservatives must engage, turn out, and elect Republican leaders who will defend our freedoms and keep Texas, Texas."

The last Texas Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate was Lloyd Bentsen from Houston in 1988. He served until 1993 when he was appointed U.S. Treasury Secretary. Kay Bailey Hutchison flipped his seat red in a special election in 1993. She held the seat until Ted Cruz was elected to it seat in 2012.

The last Democrat elected to Cornyn’s Senate seat was Lyndon B. Johnson in 1948. He resigned in 1961 to become U.S. vice president. His appointed replacement lost his election to Republican John Tower in 1961. Republican Phil Gramm was next elected to the seat, followed by Cornyn in 2002.