U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Republican leaders hold a press conference following the Republican weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 4, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) all but conceded in a Tuesday interview on Fox News that they don't have the money to hold the Senate seat in Texas without help from President Donald Trump and his outside billionaire allies.
The Texas race, the latest in a long line of attempts by Democrats to compete in a longtime Republican bastion, has polled competitive all summer, with Democratic state Rep. James Talarico maintaining small but persistent leads against scandal-plagued Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
So far, Talarico has dominated the airwaves with a spending advantage, in what is one of the nation's most expensive states to campaign.
"We have to win this race," Thune said in the interview with Fox's Martha MacCallum. "I think all of our allies out there, including the president and his team and their resources, need to be brought to bear on Texas because it's not one that we can lose if we are going to hang on to Republican majority, we flat have to win there."
MacCallum noted that Trump's super PAC, MAGA Inc., is sitting on a war chest of $400 million. "Is that money going to start rolling any time soon?"
"We certainly hope so," said Thune.
"Texas is such an expensive state, we will need the president and his team to engage there and to be putting resources into that race," Thune added.