Everything is bigger in Texas. After a $165.7M primary that saw Ken Paxton oust incumbent John Cornyn and another $407.5M in general election ad spending and reservations, this year's Texas Senate race has become the most expensive non-presidential race on record.
Texas is just the second non-presidential race in history to surpass $500M in political ad spending, following the 2024 Ohio Senate race ($542.7M). With this year's Ohio Senate race also crossing that threshold ($514.3M), the 2025–2026 cycle marks the first time two non-presidential races have exceeded $500M in the same election cycle. AdImpact breaks down the general election spending driving Texas's record-breaking Senate race.
Republicans’ $140.7M General Election Ad Advantage
Texas's Senate general election has seen $407.5M in ad spending and reservations, with Republicans outspending Democrats by $140.7M. That's more than double the $202.2M spent during the 2024 Senate general election between Ted Cruz and Colin Allred, when Democrats finished with a $34.1M spending advantage.
James Talarico and other Democratic advertisers had the airwaves practically to themselves until mid-August. Before then, Democrats spent $21.4M compared to just $2.5M by Republicans. Republicans only spent $218K on broadcast during this period.
Republican advertising surged in the following weeks. From the week of August 25 through election week, Republicans outspent Democrats by an average of $15.3M per week. In the week of September 15 alone, Republicans spent $29.2M more on advertising than Democrats.
$251.7M to Boost Paxton from Outside Groups
This surge in ad activity was driven by large investments by Republican outside groups. Senate Leadership Fund-aligned Texas PAC spent $182.1M on ads supporting Paxton and attacking Talarico, making it the eighth highest-spending advertiser this cycle. The group has spent more than double SLF’s biggest investment in an election this cycle: $90.1M in Ohio. Other high spending Republican groups include MAGA Inc. ($41.3M) and Lone Star Liberty PAC ($20.6M).
While Ken Paxton has received $251.7M in ad support from outside groups, Talarico has only seen $30.6M. The highest spending Democratic groups include Lone Star Rising PAC ($14.0M), and Texas Forever ($7.8M). Among the ten Senate elections rated Toss Up or Lean by The Cook Political Report (CPR), Democratic outside groups have spent more in five other contests than in Texas: Ohio ($139.2M), Iowa ($88.4M), Michigan ($70.9M), Maine ($65.2M), and Kansas ($38.6M).
In total, outside groups make up 92% of Paxton’s ad support, compared to 23% for Talarico.
What’s on the Airwaves
Looking at broadcast advertising, Republicans have outspent Democrats by $100.4M, translating to 38.2K more broadcast airings. Despite this spending gap, Democrats have remained relatively competitive in broadcast airings, aided by the Talarico campaign's access to stations' lowest unit rates. Meanwhile, Republican outside groups have been willing to pay higher rates for premium airtime, including during college football and NFL games. Texas PAC even opted to air an ad nationally during the 1 PM ET NFL slate rather than pay the higher local rate for that week's Cowboys–Texans game.
On broadcast, the two parties have taken different approaches to their messaging. Democrats’ top issues by broadcast airings have been taxation, healthcare and corruption. Democratic advertisers have aired 28K broadcast spots attacking Paxton over corruption. Republicans’ top issues have been crime, transgender minors and taxation, as they’ve worked to paint Talarico as too liberal. One ad from Texas PAC reused a line from an ad from President Trump's campaign in 2024, ending with "James Talarico is for they/them, not you.", and in Spanish: “El liberal radical James Talarico. Por los nobinarios, no por ti”.
Attack ads have dominated the airwaves. 61% of all broadcast airings have been negative or contrast ads. Republicans have been more negative than Democrats in their broadcast ads. Two-thirds of all Republican broadcast airings have been negative compared to 52% for Democrats.
More than two-thirds of all outside group broadcast airings have been negative or contrast ads compared to 55% for all campaign broadcast airings.
With Election Day just four days away, Texas has made political advertising history by becoming the most expensive non-Presidential race on record. Democrats are hoping for an upset. First in overcoming the fact that a Democrat hasn’t won a Senate election in Texas since 1988, and secondly, overcoming Republicans’ $140.7M ad spending advantage. Make sure to follow our X account as we continue to provide updates on ad spending behind Texas Senate, among other elections up until the races are called.
