News: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will report raising $2.9 million during the second quarter of 2025 for his Senate bid.
Paxton launched a challenge against Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in early April and has consistently led Cornyn in public and private polling.
“Our voters have been excited to send John Cornyn packing for years, which is why he’s down over 20 points and his campaign is getting more and more desperate,” Paxton said in a statement.
Cornyn hasn’t disclosed his second-quarter fundraising totals yet. But a super PAC supporting Cornyn’s effort said it raised nearly $11 million.
Paxton’s fundraising news comes a day after his wife, Angela Paxton, announced that she was divorcing him on “biblical grounds.” Angela Paxton is a state senator representing the same state Senate district Ken Paxton held before he became Texas AG.
And as we reported in Thursday’s Midday edition, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate GOP campaign officials met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday to talk about the 2026 races.
The Trump administration officials said they wanted to wait and see whether the polling gap between Cornyn and Paxton closes before deciding whether to engage.
More fundraising news. Fight for America PAC, a super PAC supporting Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), ended Q2 with $2.8 million banked. Schmitt is not up until 2028 but the group said it also plans to help Republicans retain the majority in 2026.
Frontline Rep. Derek Tran (D-Calif.) raised $830,000 in Q2 and has $1.1 million on hand.
