Texas Senate primaries become most expensive in history with more than $110 million in spending

The electoral primaries for the Senate in Texas have become the most expensive in history. Between Democrats and Republicans, ad spending topped $110 million. The figure was reached in a year in which both parties have primaries with strong names and which are shaping up to be very close. The elections will take place next March 3, with a possible runoff scheduled for May 26.

According to AdImpact, a company that provides real-time tracking of the appearance of ads on television and digital media in the United States, spending reached $110.5 million. The company also noted that about 70% of spending and bookings in the races come from outside groups.

Thus, the Texas Senate primary has become the most expensive in history, dethroning the Arizona primary in 2022. In that election, Blake Masters captured the Republican nomination after defeating Jim Lamon, Mark Brnovich, Michael McGuire and Justin Olson.

In terms of spending distribution, the Republican primaries concentrate the lion's share. There, incumbent Senator John Cornyn, who is seeking a fifth consecutive term, is pitted against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Congressman Wesley Hunt, who was the last to enter the race.

According to AdImpact, $64 million went into ads to support Cornyn, while $11.4 million went to Congressman Hunt. In turn, $3.6 million went to Paxton. The remainder was concentrated in negative ads against Hunt ($5.4 million) and Cornyn ($3.6 million).

On the Democratic side, the Senate primary pits state representative James Talarico against congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. Ad spending breaks down to $17.6 million in ads in favor of Talarico and $4.3 million in favor of Crockett.

President Donald Trump has yet to endorse either Republican in the race. As he stated, he would be happy with any of the three as a candidate in November. "Those are the toughest races. They’ve all supported me. They’re all good. You’re supposed to pick one, so we’ll see what happens. But I support all three," he expressed recently.

The president is expected to visit Corpus Christi, Texas days before the primary.

According to Texas election rules, if no candidate exceeds 50% of the vote in the primary, the top two vote-getters must face off in a runoff to determine the party's nominee.