Senate Campaign Operation That Trashed Paxton Just Reversed Course in a Big Way

Establishment RINOs called Ken Paxton’s campaign scandal plagued, morally compromised, and unelectable just months ago.

Six months later their establishment GOP machine is changing their tune.

That flip triggered a spending spree nobody in Austin saw coming this fast.

How Thune's Machine Tried to Bury Paxton Before Trump Overruled Them

Back in the primary, the National Republican Senatorial Committee's communications shop called reports of Ken Paxton's alleged marital infidelity "truly repulsive and disgusting."

It accused Paxton of lying to voters, declaring "a lot of people who trust Ken Paxton get lied to" after reports he listed multiple homes as his primary residence.

Senate Republicans went further still, charging that Paxton's "incompetence" as Texas' chief law enforcement officer had "allowed crime to run rampant," according to the Texas Tribune.

Majority Leader John Thune backed John Cornyn instead and personally urged Trump to intervene for Cornyn, the Texas Tribune reported.

Trump refused.

He endorsed Paxton anyway, calling him "the greatest attorney general in America" and shrugging off the polish problem.

"He may not dress right. He may not talk exactly perfectly, and he may not be the best looking guy I've ever seen," Trump said, according to the Daily Wire.

Paxton beat Cornyn in the runoff, and Thune suddenly pledged to go "all in" for the man his committee had spent months trashing.

Now the Same Machine Is Funding a 51 Million Dollar Texas Blitz

Texas PAC, the group aligned with Thune's Senate Leadership Fund, has reserved $51.3 million in television advertising across Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin, according to the Dallas Express.

Trump's super PAC, MAGA Inc., kicked in another $10 million.

Elon Musk's America PAC added over $2.6 million on top of that, the Dallas Express reported.

One new spot spotlights Paxton's record prosecuting sex traffickers.

Another, titled "For They/Them, Not You," goes straight at Democrat James Talarico over his comments on transgender issues, the Dallas Express reported.

Thune framed the sudden cash flood as party unity against extremism.

"As the Democrat Party gets pulled further to the left, extreme candidates like James Talarico are becoming the norm," Thune said. "Republicans are united in keeping him out of the U.S. Senate."

Paxton isn't shy about why he thinks the flood of ads will work.

"Once we're able to highlight the stark differences between a socialist and a constitutional Republican, he will not win Texas," Paxton said.

Talarico Is Sitting On 72 Million and Republicans Know It

Talarico has raised more than $72 million since launching his campaign, dwarfing Paxton's roughly $17 million, per the Daily Wire.

Recent polling has shown him ahead too.

That war chest is the real reason Thune's crowd buried the pitchforks and grabbed the checkbook.

Establishment Republicans have run this exact play before.

In 2022, the Senate Leadership Fund pulled nearly $10 million in ads for Blake Masters in Arizona, igniting a MAGA revolt before quietly restoring the money weeks later once the polls tightened.

Every time the base gets proven right about a candidate the consultant class wrote off, Washington waits until losing the seat outright becomes scarier than losing face.

Seventy two million dollars is exactly the kind of number that makes consultants in Washington suddenly remember why they're Republicans.

If Paxton loses Texas after Thune's committee called him a liar all spring, national Republicans will have handed Chuck Schumer a Senate seat out of pure spite, and every voter who watched it happen will remember exactly who tried to sink him first.

Sources:

• Patrick Svitek, "Senate Republicans trashed Paxton. They need each other to win.," The Texas Tribune, May 27, 2026.
• Alex Nitzberg, "GOP Goes On Texas Spending Blitz After Convention," The Daily Wire, September 2026.
• staff, "Republican Cavalry Arrives For Ken Paxton As Big Bucks Texas Offensive Opens Cash Floodgates," Fox News, September 2026.
• staff, "$51.3M GOP Push Backs Paxton, Hits Talarico: 'For They/Them, Not You'," Dallas Express, September 13, 2026.
• Jack, "Senate GOP Reverses Course With $51.3 Million Texas Ad Buy for Ken Paxton," 100PercentFedUp, September 2026.