Ken Paxton Tells Sean Hannity Most of James Talarico's Money Is Out of State

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, told Sean Hannity that less than half of Democrat James Talarico's campaign money comes from Texas. But an analysis of Federal Election Commission filings shows that most of Talarico's itemized donations come from Texans.

Paxton made the claim on Tuesday's episode of The Sean Hannity Show. Hannity noted the election was 35 days away and called this cycle's polls "atrocious."

What Ken Paxton Told Sean Hannity

Hannity asked how much money Democrats had "poured into Texas so far this election cycle."

"This guy raises most of his money for a high percentage of the money in California, New York, and Illinois. Less than half is from Texas. And a good percentage of it is ActBlue. I think he reached $14 million from ActBlue, which is a corrupt organization, probably taking lots of foreign money," Paxton said. ActBlue is the online fundraising platform used by Democratic campaigns. Paxton did not say how he arrived at the $14 million figure or offer evidence for his characterization of ActBlue.

Paxton added: "What's going on here is California is trying to get their third senator."

Hannity said earlier in the segment: "They are pouring hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in these negative ads against you."

What FEC Filings Show on Talarico's Donors

Talarico's campaign committee reported $68.6 million in total receipts from September 2025 through June 30, according to its FEC filings.

A Texas Tribune analysis of the candidates' filings, published July 20, found that about 55 percent of Talarico's itemized contributions through June 30 came from within Texas. California and New York were his largest out-of-state sources. Paxton drew about 83 percent of his itemized money from Texas through May 6, the cutoff for his figures in the analysis, and Florida and Utah were his top outside states. The two shares therefore cover different periods.

Those shares cover only itemized donations. Talarico also reported $36.7 million in unitemized individual contributions, which come from donors who gave $200 or less. Talarico's campaign filings do not list those donors' home states.

The campaign said it has donations from 246 Texas counties and more than 540,000 small-dollar contributors, Fox News reported.

The Ted Cruz Comparison and Outside Spending

Hannity compared the race to Ted Cruz's 2018 contest against Democrat Beto O'Rourke. From January 2017 through June 2018, about 47 percent of Cruz's reportable individual donations came from outside Texas, compared with 33 percent of O'Rourke's, the Texas Tribune reported. Cruz won the race.

The current race is also expensive, but most of the outside money on TV is backing Paxton. As of Sept. 22, the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, had committed $100 million to back Paxton, and total Republican general-election spending had passed $140 million, according to the Texas Tribune.

By comparison, as of the same date, Talarico had spent about $22 million on ads in September, and Lone Star Rising PAC, the main super PAC backing him, had added about $3 million. Neither the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee nor Senate Majority PAC had committed any advertising funds to Texas as of Sept. 22, according to the Texas Tribune.

Where the Texas Senate Race Stands

Talarico leads Paxton by 46.4 percent to 43.3 percent in PolitiKool's polling average for the race, a lead of 3.1 points.

Hannity was dismissive of polling generally on the show. "I don't trust the polling, but I am taking every race seriously," he said.

The next quarterly FEC reports, covering July through September, are due October 15. They will show whether Talarico's ratio of Texas to out-of-state money has held.