Texas Senate: Talarico's $146 Million Haul

New FEC filings show James Talarico, the Democrat in the Texas Senate race, has raised $146.3 million and spent $136.4 million, leaving him with just under $9.9 million on hand with five days before polls close. That receipts figure is the largest of any Senate candidate in this batch of filings, and the burn rate — more than 93 cents of every dollar raised already spent — suggests a campaign that has treated this cycle as a national-money magnet rather than a contest to be banked for a late surge. The filing data provided does not include fundraising figures for Talarico's Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, so it is not possible from these numbers alone to say which side holds a financial edge heading into the final week. What is clear is the scale: Talarico's $146.3 million in receipts dwarfs every other Senate figure reported today, a reflection of how heavily both parties' donor networks have poured money into Texas as a marquee contest.

Senate Money Race: Ossoff's Cash Cushion Stands Out

Four other Senate Democrats filed substantial reports this cycle, and the differences in what they have left to spend are as telling as what they raised. Jon Ossoff, in the Georgia Senate race, reported $115.9 million raised against $105.8 million spent, leaving $15.1 million on hand — the largest remaining war chest among this group of five Democrats, Talarico included. That cushion gives Ossoff's campaign more room to maneuver in the campaign's final days than any of his counterparts. Sherrod Brown, running in the Ohio Senate race, raised $68.4 million and spent $64.0 million, leaving just $4.5 million in reserve. In the Michigan Senate race, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed filed $53.8 million in receipts against $51.1 million in disbursements, leaving $2.7 million on hand — the thinnest margin of the group relative to total spending. North Carolina Democrat Roy Cooper, in the North Carolina Senate race, raised $49.6 million and spent $40.5 million, finishing with $9.1 million on hand — a higher remaining balance than either Brown or El-Sayed despite pulling in less money overall than both of them combined with Ossoff. The pattern across these four filings is not simply who raised the most, but who spent the most cautiously relative to receipts. Cooper's spending rate — roughly 82 cents of every dollar raised — is markedly lower than Brown's or El-Sayed's, both of whom spent more than 94 cents of every dollar that came in. Whether that reflects a more efficient media market, a less competitive advertising environment, or simply a later decision to spend aggressively is not discernible from fundraising totals alone, but the disparity in cash-on-hand will shape how much each campaign can do in the final five days before voters go to the polls.

House Filings Still Pending

Not every filing arrived complete. Reports for Democrat Thomas Perriello and Democrat Gerald Edward Connolly in Virginia, Republican Mark Green in Tennessee, Green Party candidate Andres Jinete in New Jersey, and independent Ahsen Mujeeb Malik in Virginia were all logged without receipts, disbursements, or cash-on-hand totals attached. Without those figures, there is no basis for comparing these House campaigns' financial strength to one another or to the Senate contests reported above. PollingSource will update these records as complete filings become available.

Taken together, today's filings underscore how unevenly campaign cash is distributed even among candidates of the same party running in marquee Senate races. Big totals do not automatically translate into big reserves, and the campaigns with the most room to spend in the campaign's last days are not necessarily the ones that raised the most overall.