Trump-backed group announces $10m ad spend for midterm Senate race in Texas

A political group associated with United States President Donald Trump has announced it will spend $10m on television and digital advertisements in the state of Texas ahead of the upcoming midterm elections .

The Saturday filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) represents the first major spend in a general election by MAGA, Inc, a super PAC named for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.

The advertisements are expected to heavily target Democratic candidate James Talarico , a 37-year-old state representative running for the US Senate against Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton .

Speculation abounds that Democrats may have a chance of flipping one of Texas’s Senate seats for the first time since 1993.

Paxton has weathered a series of scandals, even facing a state impeachment trial. Still, Democrats have repeatedly faced withering defeats in Texas, having failed to win a statewide office there in more than three decades.

In a statement on Saturday, MAGA, Inc sought to portray Talarico as out of touch with everyday Texans.

“High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans’ pockets,” spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer said. “MAGA Inc is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico’s radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the US Senate.”

While Texas is often seen as a Republican stronghold, Trump’s deepening unpopularity and cost-of-living concerns have bolstered Democrats like Talarico ahead of November’s midterm elections.