DALLAS — Democratic nominee James Talarico is raising more money from Texans than Republican Ken Paxton in the Senate race, but their support looks markedly different. Talarico, a state representative from Austin, collected 95,000 itemized donations from Texans during the first half of the year — nine times as many as Paxton. The average size of one of those contributions was $144 for ...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during a campaign event at Matt's Rancho Martinez on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, in Allen, Texas.

Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

DALLAS — Democratic nominee James Talarico is raising more money from Texans than Republican Ken Paxton in the Senate race, but their support looks markedly different.

Talarico, a state representative from Austin, collected 95,000 itemized donations from Texans during the first half of the year — nine times as many as Paxton. The average size of one of those contributions was $144 for Talarico, compared with $937 for Paxton, the attorney general.

The far greater number of donations added up to an advantage for Talarico and his affiliated committees: $13.8 million from identifiable Texas donors, compared with Paxton’s $9.3 million, according to Federal Election Commission data.

Paxton has relied more heavily on Texas donors so far this year. Money from Texans accounted for 85% of his itemized contributions, compared with 53% of Talarico’s.

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James Talarico, Texas Democratic Senate candidate, talks to supporters during a Texas Together rally at Ridglea Theater on Friday, March 20, 2026, in Fort Worth.

Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Itemized contributions are those reported with information such as the donor’s name and address. The election commission generally requires those details once a donor’s combined contributions exceed $200 during an election cycle.

That disclosure rule means The Dallas Morning News analysis cannot determine the origin of all the candidates’ money.

Talarico received $28.6 million through June in unitemized contributions from donors whose information was not disclosed. Paxton has received about $1.1 million in unitemized cash.

Even without knowing where that money came from, Talarico’s overall fundraising advantage is substantial.

He and his affiliated committees raised more than $55 million during the first half of 2026, nearly four and a half times the roughly $12.5 million collected by Paxton and his associated committees through the end of June.