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Austin's James Talarico raises record-breaking $27 million in first quarter for U.S. Senate bid

Democratic nominee James Talarico speaks to supporters just before midnight on March 3 after winning the primary for U.S. Senate.(Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune ) State Rep. James Talarico raised $27 million in the first three months of 2026 in his bid to flip Texas, according to his campaign. The Austin Democrat’s haul is the largest-ever sum for a U.S. Senate candidate — in any state — in the first quarter of an election year. He outraised other Democrats this cycle who posted impressive hauls of their own in competitive Senate races where Democrats have better odds, including Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, and more than doubled the totals of former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and former Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola. Talarico significantly outpaced Texas’ last two Democratic Senate candidates to win their primaries outright — both strong fundraisers. Colin Allred raised over $9.5 million in the first quarter of 2024, and Beto O’Rourke brought in $6.7 million in 2018 — though both ultimately lost. The massive haul will bolster Democrats’ hopes about making Talarico the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Texas in over three decades — an uphill battle in any cycle and an expensive proposition in a massive state with 20 media markets. “Winning in Texas will require unprecedented resources,” said Seth Krasne, Talarico’s campaign manager. “This grassroots fundraising haul puts our movement in a strong position to spread our message in some of the most expensive media markets in the country. But we can’t take our foot off of the gas.” Talarico spent much of the first quarter in a tight primary against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, contributing to his massive haul. But his campaign says he raised over $10 million since the March 3 primary. The $27 million quarter brings Talarico’s total fundraising for the race, since he got in last September, to over $40 million. Talarico’s campaign said that over the course of the race, he has received donations from over 540,000 individual contributors, and from 246 of Texas’ 254 counties. Talarico also continued his streak of outraising his potential Republican opponents. Sen. John Cornyn, who is locked in a bitter runoff battle with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, raised nearly $9 million in the first quarter across his fundraising apparatus, including $3.4 million in the weeks after the primary, his campaign announced. Paxton has not yet reported his first quarter total, but has trailed Cornyn in every quarter this cycle. Texas’ record for U.S. Senate fundraising is O’Rourke’s 2018 third quarter, when he posted a $38 million haul. From The Texas Tribune The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.