Why It Matters

In one of the most watched and contested races of this year's midterm elections, SuperPac Texas Forever entered the fray and has reported $5.85 million in spending opposing Republican Ken Paxton in the Texas U.S. Senate race. ​

The Texas SuperPac is affiliated with Senate Democrats' main outside-spending organization: Senate Majority PAC confirmed the relationship, describing Texas Forever as an affiliate in a Sept. 29 announcement of its first ad targeting Paxton.

What It Spent

Texas Forever's reported spending reflects a single-target strategy: all $5.85 million has gone toward opposing Paxton, with no recorded spending supporting another candidate.

Paxton, the Texas attorney general and Republican Senate nominee, defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the May 26 Republican runoff. He faces Democratic nominee and state Rep. James Talarico (D-TX), who won the March 3 Democratic primary, in the Nov. 3 general election.

The Ad Buy

Gambit Strategies is identified as the recipient of all seven reported independent-expenditure transactions, handling digital advertising placement and production opposing Paxton.

On Sept. 29, the committee reported approximately $2.11 million in digital advertising and production expenditures opposing Paxton. On Oct. 6, it reported two additional expenditures of $3.5 million and $200,000, both for digital advertisements opposing Paxton. Between Oct. 5 and Oct. 9, five reported transactions totaling about $3.74 million went to the same candidate. Four smaller transactions were identified as estimated media production expenditures: $21,507.66 on Oct. 7, $15,027.75 on Oct. 9, $4,260 on Sept. 29, and $2,376 on Oct. 5.

Texas Forever's first publicly announced advertisement focused on Paxton's handling of a child sexual abuse case while serving as Texas attorney general. In a Sept. 29 announcement, Senate Majority PAC said Texas Forever had launched a statewide digital advertisement criticizing a plea agreement offered by Paxton's office to Adam Hoffman, who had been charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child. According to the announcement, the agreement would have allowed Hoffman to plead guilty to two misdemeanors, serve one day in jail, and avoid sex offender registration. The advertisement also highlighted a connection between Hoffman's attorney and a donor to Paxton, alleging that the attorney represented someone who contributed $25,000 to the attorney general.

Other Spenders in the Same Races

The Texas Senate race has attracted substantial outside spending from organizations supporting and opposing the major-party nominees. Texas PAC has reportedly spent $78.73 million opposing Talarico and $69.59 million supporting Paxton. MAGA Inc. has reportedly spent $22.5 million opposing Talarico and $7.5 million supporting Paxton.

Against that backdrop, Texas Forever's approximately $5.85 million represents a smaller share of the race's reported outside spending, but it has spent entirely on opposing Paxton.

You can explore more about this committee's filings at Legis1.com.

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