“We in the Senate don’t have the money budgeted for Texas,” Kennedy said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday.
”We need help from the President. The President says he has $850 million in his campaign accounts. That’s a lot of jack.”
Watch the clip below:
Kennedy’s comments highlight a growing concern inside Republican circles: Texas may be far more competitive than many Republicans expected heading into the midterm elections.
For decades, Texas has been one of the Republican Party’s most reliable strongholds. But Paxton’s contest against Talarico has quickly become a national battle, with Democrats hoping to accomplish something that once appeared almost unthinkable—capture a Texas Senate seat.
Paxton earned the Republican nomination after defeating four-term Sen. John Cornyn in the May runoff. His victory came after Trump endorsed him and after Paxton faced heavy resistance from the Republican establishment.
Now, however, winning the general election presents an entirely different challenge.
Talarico has emerged as a formidable Democratic challenger, and his campaign has built a major financial advantage over Paxton.
Federal Election Commission records show just how substantial that gap had become by the end of June. Talarico’s campaign reported approximately $21.5 million in cash on hand as of June 30, while Paxton’s campaign had roughly $1.8 million available.
That difference gives Democrats an important advantage heading into the final stretch of the campaign.
Talarico has also benefited from a substantial advertising operation. The Democratic nominee has been able to put his campaign message in front of Texas voters at a pace Paxton has struggled to match.
The financial imbalance is particularly striking because Paxton already endured an extraordinarily expensive Republican primary fight against Cornyn.
More than $120 million was reportedly spent on advertising during the two-round Republican contest, with Cornyn-aligned groups pouring substantial resources into the effort to defeat Paxton.
That bruising primary left the Republican nominee facing the general election with considerably fewer resources than his Democratic opponent.
And Democrats have wasted little time taking advantage of the opening.
Talarico, a progressive Democrat and Presbyterian seminarian, has attracted national attention for a number of controversial statements on religion, abortion and immigration.
Among the remarks that have drawn criticism, Talarico has said “God is non-binary,” argued that “the Bible is silent on abortion,” and described Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a “secret police force.”
Republicans are expected to make those statements a major part of their campaign effort as they attempt to define Talarico for conservative and independent voters across Texas.
But Kennedy’s warning suggests that messaging alone will not be enough.
Republicans also need money.
The Senate Leadership Fund, which is aligned with Republican Senate leadership, had not scheduled independent-expenditure advertising in Texas earlier in the summer, while Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. has accumulated a massive financial reserve but had yet to unleash a major advertising campaign in the state.
That could change as Election Day approaches.
Trump has already demonstrated that he understands the stakes. The president traveled to Houston for an RNC fundraiser designed in part to bolster Paxton’s campaign and help the Republican nominee build the resources necessary for the final battle.
Paxton has acknowledged that his campaign needs assistance from Republicans nationwide.
“We’re trying to get help from all over the country,” Paxton told Fox News.
The urgency is becoming increasingly difficult for Republicans to ignore.
Recent polling shows a race that remains extremely close rather than a comfortable Republican victory. An Emerson College/Nexstar survey conducted August 9-10 showed Paxton narrowly ahead of Talarico, 47% to 46%, effectively placing the contest within the margin of error.
Other surveys have shown Talarico with narrow advantages, and Cook Political Report recently moved the race from “Lean Republican” to “Toss Up.”
That makes Kennedy’s warning particularly significant.
Republicans are defending a Senate seat in a state where they have dominated statewide politics for decades, yet the race has become a genuine national battleground.
For Trump and the GOP, the stakes extend well beyond Texas.
A Democratic victory would give Democrats a major symbolic breakthrough in one of the country’s most important Republican states while potentially helping the party’s broader effort to regain control of the Senate.
For Republicans, meanwhile, holding the seat would protect their Senate map and demonstrate that the party can withstand an increasingly aggressive Democratic campaign even in a year when Democrats are targeting traditionally safe territory.
The battle is now entering a critical phase.
Paxton has Trump’s endorsement, a Republican electorate that has repeatedly demonstrated its strength in Texas, and a narrow path to victory that remains very much within reach.
But as Kennedy made clear, political support alone may not be enough.
The question now is whether the Republican Party—and Trump himself—will put enough financial firepower behind Paxton to keep Texas red when voters head to the polls in November.
