A huge $10 million donation linked to President Donald Trump may still not be enough to turn things around for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to a political analyst who discussed the closely watched Senate race.
Political analyst Abby Livingston appeared on MS NOW with Peter Alexander on Monday, where she spoke about the situation in Texas and whether Trump was becoming concerned that the Senate seat could fall into Democratic hands.
Livingston said it is still difficult to know exactly how involved Trump personally intends to become in the race. Trump has said he plans to campaign in Texas, but Livingston suggested his planned visit may not necessarily mean he is deeply worried about Paxton’s campaign.
She said Trump may simply be interested in spending time campaigning in Texas because it has traditionally been a Republican stronghold. However, the amount of money now being put into the race shows that some Republicans are taking the contest very seriously.
Trump’s political allies have already made a major financial move. The Trump-controlled super PAC MAGA Inc. reportedly provided $10 million to support Paxton and campaign against his Democratic opponent, Texas state representative James Talarico.
The money could be used for political advertising and other campaign efforts aimed at strengthening Paxton’s position while attacking Talarico. But Livingston argued that even such a large amount of money might not be enough to completely change the direction of the race.
She explained that Texas is an extremely large and expensive state to campaign in. Reaching millions of voters through television, digital advertising, campaign events and other forms of political communication can quickly cost enormous amounts of money.
Because of this, Livingston said she does not believe $10 million alone will necessarily solve Paxton’s problems.
She also suggested that Talarico’s campaign could have an impact beyond Texas. Even if he ultimately fails to win the Senate seat, a strong Democratic campaign in Texas could force Republicans and their supporters to spend more money and resources defending a state they would normally expect to hold comfortably.
That could potentially affect how political money is spent in Senate races elsewhere in the country, particularly if Republicans are forced to devote more attention to Texas than originally expected.
Livingston said Republican senators appear to be paying very close attention to what is happening. According to her, there is considerable concern among Republicans both nationally and inside Texas about how competitive the race could become.
She described Senate Republicans as extremely worried about the contest and said Republicans working on the ground in Texas are also taking the situation seriously.
Texas has long been considered one of America’s strongest Republican states in presidential and statewide elections. That is why signs of a competitive Senate contest could attract national attention and encourage both parties to pour even more money into the state.
With millions of dollars already entering the campaign and Trump potentially preparing to campaign in Texas, the race could become one of the political contests to watch closely as Republicans fight to keep the seat and Democrats attempt to make an unexpected breakthrough.
