‘Slow-moving car crash’: Republicans have put $131M into Texas, but a report says alarm bells are ringing in the GOP camp over Ken Paxton’s campaign

A Saturday Politico report says senior Republicans have grown more uneasy about Ken Paxton’s bid for Senate in Texas and have privately pressed President Donald Trump’s team to send more help. Paxton is in a tight contest with Democrat James Talarico, and the party is already spending heavily in an effort to hold the seat.

A GOP strategist in Texas put the worry in plain terms. “This is a slow-moving car crash that we’re witnessing right now,” the strategist said. The same strategist then laid out what that could mean beyond one race. “And there’s a 75% chance that the ultimate result here will be catastrophic from a GOP Senate majority standpoint,” the strategist said.

A Republican senator described the race in similar language when speaking to the outlet. “It’s a five-alarm fire, no doubt,” the senator said. “Can we put it out? I hope so.”

Leadership Fund total hits $131 million as other states stay in view

Outside Republican groups have already committed large sums, Politico reported. On Wednesday, the Senate Leadership Fund added another $60 million in Texas, lifting its spending in the state to $131 million.

Spending tied to Trump’s orbit is set to rise as well. A Trump operative told Politico that MAGA Inc. and affiliated groups plan to spend nearly $45 million through Oct. 12. All outside GOP money aimed at helping Paxton is on pace to surpass $200 million. Separately, Paxton’s campaign has announced a $20 million ad buy of its own.

That bill has reportedly stirred a second concern within the party: Texas could pull resources away from other states that Republicans also consider important, including Michigan and New Hampshire. 

Paxton has also become part of the problem, according to the report. Audio surfaced in which he said that “everybody’s numbers dropped” after Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas. A Republican senator told Politico the campaign looked short on a clear plan once that audio was out.

“There seems to be very little strategy there,” the senator said. “Sometimes, I think [Paxton] wants to lose.”

During a Texas stop on Thursday, Trump sought to talk up Paxton’s record as the state’s attorney general, Politico reported. Even so, he told supporters, “Ken Paxton was at my side more than anybody, and I have to always remember that because he can be a pain in the a–s sometimes. I’ll be honest.”

On Thursday, CNN data analyst Harry Enten said Paxton’s net favorability stood at minus-16 points, according to Mediaite. The doubts are not confined to the polls, as Karl Rove has said the Republican Party is being taken over by Nazis and predicted they will lose the Senate race in Texas. 

Enten said that reading made Paxton the least popular Texas Republican Senate nominee this century. Trump is scheduled to come back to the state again next week.