Billionaires spend millions to buy a Texas seat for Ken Paxton

By Maya Ellison · Reporting from Detroit · October 6, 2026

Billionaires are dumping millions into Texas to shield Ken Paxton from accountability, proving that the wealthy treat our democracy as something they can simply buy.

Buying a senate seat to rescue the indefensible

Growing up on a GM assembly line floor teaches you that money talks. Usually, it tells you that you are losing. Right now, the billionaire class is shouting. According to NBC News, Republicans booked more than $700 million in new ads since September. In the Senate battle, almost 7 of every 10 new ad dollars come from Republicans. They are panicking. They are opening the vaults wide to stop a red-state wave.

Look at Texas. There, the Republican Party poured in almost $150 million in new ad dollars, as reported by NBC News. They want to back nominee Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico. Axios notes that a single super PAC, Texas PAC, burned through $131 million in just 17 days to rescue Paxton. This is the machinery of Citizens United v. FEC at work. This legal mechanism allows corporate titans and billionaires to flood the airwaves. They drown out working families who are trying to keep the lights on. It is an obscene display of concentrated wealth operating as a shield against the public will.

Defenders of this cash flood argue that fundraising shows grassroots strength. Sen. Tim Scott told NBC News that cash is king. He beamed that they have a massive advantage because of MAGA Inc. He called it a powerful tool to share their message. But that story ignores who pays the bill. Lauren French of the Senate Majority PAC told NBC News this is not momentum. Instead, she called it a swell of panic because voters despise what they are selling. When a party needs to spend millions in a couple of weeks to rescue a candidate, that is not democracy. That is a hostile takeover of the ballot box by the ownership class.

The corruption machine behind the millions

To understand why the donor class is spending this sum, look at the man they are buying. Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. has served as Texas Attorney General since 2015. His career is a masterclass in official corruption. Baptist News Global reminds us that his wife filed for divorce on biblical grounds after his serial adultery. He was indicted on state securities fraud charges for selling Servergy Inc. shares. He failed to disclose that he received stock shares as compensation. The Texas House impeached him on 20 articles. These alleged bribery, abuse of power, and retaliation against whistleblowers. They exposed his cozy relationship with real estate donor Nate Paul. Paul renovated Paxton’s home in exchange for official favors.

This is the Impeachment of Ken Paxton writ large across the national stage. It shares the exact same mechanism. Powerful political interests shield a politician from the consequences of his actions. They do this through party loyalty and financial backing. The Texas Senate fell just short of convicting him. This proved that the rules do not apply to the powerful. Now, those same interests are spending $122 million on advertising for Paxton in Texas, according to Baptist News Global. Just think about what else that money could do for working people. Baptist News Global points out that this money could relieve people of medical debt. Instead, they weaponize that wealth. They want to ensure that a man who stole a Montblanc pen can walk the halls of the United States Senate. He sold out his office to a donor.

The pitchmen for this corruption pretend that voters worry about anything except the bill collectors. ABC News reports that Republicans are scrambling back to a tired tough-on-crime message. Figures like House Speaker Mike Johnson and Donald Trump shout about border security. They want to distract from the skyrocketing cost of living. But working people are not buying the diversion. Billionaires like healthcare executive Rick Jackson fund campaigns to lecture working-class neighborhoods about crime. Meanwhile, families in Flint, in Texas, and across the country are drowning in medical debt. They face stagnant wages and poisoned infrastructure. The $131 million spent by Texas PAC is not an investment in public safety. It is hush money for the ruling class. They pay to flood the airwaves across Texas to hide the rot at the center of their brand.

The ledger of a rigged system

We have seen this movie before. We know how it ends for the rest of us. It shares the same DNA as the 2008 financial crisis. Back then, concentrated wealth bailed out reckless gamblers on Wall Street. Meanwhile, millions of working families lost their homes on blocks just like the one I grew up on. Today, the rescue package is not for homeowners facing foreclosure. Instead, it is for a disgraced politician facing the voters. The billionaire class looks at a red-state seat slipping away. Because they have an unpalatable candidate, they treat it like a bad quarter at the firm. They dump hundreds of millions into super PACs to protect their legislative investments.

Voters are not fooled by the deluge of negative ads, even if the airwaves are choking on them. Meredith Kelly warned on NBC News about this. The big question is whether all that money can save Donald Trump’s crumbling coalition. When you follow the money downward, you find the truth. Every dollar spent by No Going Back PAC, Safety and Affordability PAC, and MAGA Inc. hurts working people. They just want funded schools, affordable healthcare, and honest politicians. The machine can spend $131 million in 17 days. But it cannot launder the record of a man who traded his public office for home renovations.

We must reject the notion that our democracy is simply for sale. We cannot let the highest bidder buy it in the final weeks of an election. Justice requires that politicians who break the public trust face accountability at the ballot box. They do not deserve a billionaire-funded rescue mission that buries their crimes under television commercials.

Billionaires spend millions to buy a Texas seat for Ken Paxton

Buying a senate seat to rescue the indefensible

The corruption machine behind the millions

The ledger of a rigged system

Sources