Trump Headlining Houston Fundraiser to Save Ken Paxton’s Senate Run

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President Donald Trump is headlining a Republican National Committee fundraiser for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate campaign later this month — a clear signal the president is going all-in to defend the conservative firebrand who crushed establishment favorite John Cornyn in May’s runoff.

The August 27 Houston event comes as Paxton faces a dead-heat race against Democrat James Talarico after burning through his war chest defeating Cornyn by 28 points.

Host committee tickets are selling for $443,000 per couple, with photo opportunities with Trump going for $88,600 per couple, according to an invitation posted by the New York Times.

“Trump’s visit is focused on ensuring Paxton has the funds he needs to win the midterms, after his campaign spent the bulk of their war chest against Cornyn during the runoff.”

A source familiar with the event told MSNOW’s Emily Hung the fundraiser aims to show donors that “Trump and his PACs are behind Paxton all the way.”

The timing is critical. Paxton told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview last week that he “started June 1 with basically $0” after the brutal primary fight, while Talarico “had just raised 30 million” — largely from California and New York donors.

“I ran out of campaign money during my primary fight against Cornyn,” Paxton said, explaining that Talarico “had the ability to raise money for three months that I didn’t have.”

Trump gave Paxton his “complete and total endorsement” less than 10 days before the May runoff, calling Cornyn a “good man” but adding he “was not supportive of me when times were tough.”

That endorsement sealed Cornyn’s fate. The incumbent senator — once considered Senate majority leader material — lost by 28 points in what the Texas Tribune called a “crushing blow to the Texas GOP’s old guard.”

Now Paxton faces Talarico in what an Emerson College poll taken August 9-10 shows as a razor-thin race: 47 percent Paxton, 46 percent Talarico, with 5 percent undecided among 1,000 likely Texas voters.

The numbers reveal a sharp generational divide. Voters under 50 favor Talarico by 15 points (53-38), while those over 50 break for Paxton by 11 points (53-42).

Trump stayed neutral through most of the primary, saying in February he liked “all three” Republicans in the race — Paxton, Cornyn, and Rep. Wesley Hunt, who finished a distant third in March before the runoff.

But when Trump finally picked a side in May, it wasn’t even close. Paxton’s victory cemented the attorney general as the leader of what the Texas Tribune described as the “Paxton-led insurgent wing” that has overtaken the state’s old Republican establishment.

The August 27 fundraiser puts Trump’s money where his mouth is — ensuring the candidate who delivered one of the president’s biggest primary wins doesn’t lose in November for lack of cash.

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