The U.S. Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton is attracting big-dollar donors in Texas and beyond.
Talarico is outraising Paxton, and the pro-Talarico super PAC has out-raised the pro-Paxton super PAC by 2-1.
So who are these donors and what does this mean for the race?
John Moritz, chief political reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, looked into some of the names and numbers. He said his biggest takeaway is just how much money some people are putting into the race.
Reid Hoffman, who founded LinkedIn, was the biggest donor on the list. He gave over $11 million to the pro-James Talarico super PAC.
“He is very generous with his donations to very well-known Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris,” Moritz said. “His point of view is left-of-center and he’s going to support candidates and officeholders who, I guess, are in line with those views.”
Paxton has some big donors backing him as well.
“Paxton has raised considerably less money, and that’s sort of counter to the long narrative that the richest folks tend to align themselves with Republicans,” Moritz said. “One of the names might be recognizable, Douglas Scharbauer. He’s a Midland oilman into elite horse racing. He’s also giving money to Gov. Greg Abbott, to the lieutenant governor.”
Moritz said he was surprised to see a number of big-name trial lawyers in Texas also donating to Paxton.
“A lot of people in Texas might recognize the name Thomas J. Henry, his billboards for his trial lawyer company,” he said. “Of the things that did strike me is that he’s giving to Paxton and so are a number of other trial lawyers. And trial lawyers used to be like the core of the Democratic donor base and now they’ve gone bipartisan.”
Moritz’s guess is that some high-profile donors might be following the power to the Texas GOP.
“This is just a theory, but Republicans have the power and trial lawyers don’t want to be left out of the conversation,” he said. “As long as Republicans are in charge of Texas, people with that kind of means are going to make sure their voices are heard at the very top level of government.”
Moritz said he wants voters to have this information so they can make informed decisions on Election Day based on their own values.
“In a lot of ways, we judge people on their associates — who they are, who are their friends,” he said. “We just try to sort of help readers understand where this money is coming from and what possible point of view some of these people might have. What sort of an agenda might they be pushing?”
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There are also cases where it’s unclear where money is coming from, because the law allows secrecy.
“In those cases, it’s important for us to point that out as well. Voters can use this information how they best see fit,” Moritz said. “It’s quite easy to be cynical, that people with the most money get the most attention. They have the ability to get the ears of those who would seek to lead us, and that’s got to be in the minds of voters. On the other hand, the Supreme Court has said money is speech, and if that’s the way they choose to invest and spend their money, that’s perfectly legal under the law.”
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