Texas Nationalist Movement Finds Outside Money's Share of Texas Politics Rising Ahead of November

The Texas Nationalist Movement today released new figures from whoboughttexas.com, its public index of outside money in Texas politics. Of the $886.0 million given to Texas state-level candidates and committees in the 2025-26 cycle, 20.8 percent came from contributors who listed an address outside Texas on public filings. In August the share was 19.8 percent.

Money raised since August ran higher still. About 22 percent of the $174.8 million reported since then came from outside Texas. The figures cover reports the Texas Ethics Commission received through October 7, including the 30-day pre-general reports, and the index will update again on October 27 after the 8-day reports are filed.

Five out-of-state sources account for $43.2 million, about 23 percent of all the out-of-state money this cycle, and they give to both parties' candidates and allied committees. Miriam Adelson of Nevada gave $10.1 million, $9.1 million of it to Texas Sands PAC. Jeff Yass of Pennsylvania gave $9.26 million, including $3.0 million to Texas Conservative Majority PAC and $1.0 million each to Texans for Greg Abbott and Texans for Dan Patrick. Las Vegas Sands Corporation gave $9.1 million to Texas Defense PAC. Two committees based in Washington, D.C., Ab PAC and Democracy PAC II, gave $7.7 million and $7.0 million. Money from Pennsylvania has nearly doubled since August, to $12.0 million.

All of Democracy PAC II's money went to the 1836 Fund, a new committee named for the year of Texas independence that files from a Washington, D.C. address. The 1836 Fund passed $6.5 million to Texas Majority PAC and $0.3 million to the Texas Democratic Party. The index counts that $6.8 million once. Texas Majority PAC is now 93.6 percent funded from outside Texas. On the Republican side, Texas Conservative Majority PAC is 61.4 percent funded from outside Texas, up from 43.3 percent in August, and the Republican State Leadership Committee has put $3.4 million from Washington, D.C. into its Judicial Fairness Initiative.

In every statewide race where the index has figures for both major-party nominees, the Democrat has the higher outside share. In every one of those races but Railroad Commissioner, the Republican has raised more outside dollars:

• Governor: Greg Abbott (R), $11.25 million of $91.6 million, 12.3 percent. Gina Hinojosa (D), $6.00 million of $21.7 million, 27.6 percent.
• Lieutenant Governor: Dan Patrick (R), $2.07 million of $21.0 million, 9.8 percent. Vikki Goodwin (D), $0.27 million of $2.3 million, 11.7 percent.
• Attorney General: Mayes Middleton (R), $0.33 million of $25.2 million, 1.3 percent. Nathan Johnson (D), $0.28 million of $2.8 million, 10.1 percent.
• Comptroller: Don Huffines (R), $1.23 million of $15.0 million, 8.2 percent. Sarah Eckhardt (D), $0.13 million of $1.0 million, 13.1 percent.
• Land Commissioner: Dawn Buckingham (R), $0.17 million of $3.3 million, 5.1 percent.
• Agriculture Commissioner: Nate Sheets (R), $0.13 million of $3.3 million, 4.0 percent. Clayton Tucker (D), $0.08 million of $0.69 million, 11.6 percent.
• Railroad Commissioner: Bo French (R), $0.08 million of $3.1 million, 2.4 percent. Jon Rosenthal (D), $0.18 million of $0.72 million, 25.7 percent.

The index has no confident campaign-finance match for the Libertarian nominees or for Benjamin Flores, the Democratic nominee for Land Commissioner.

The U.S. Senate race is tracked in the index's federal section, from Federal Election Commission data through early October. Those figures don't yet include the FEC's October 15 quarterly or October 22 pre-general reports. Ken Paxton (R) has 20.5 percent of $7.6 million from outside Texas, James Talarico (D) 45.2 percent of $30.1 million, and Ted Brown (L) 11.8 percent of $850.

Two committees that are new since August get all their money from outside Texas: Anthropic PBC's Texas political action committee, with $500,000, and KalshiEX LLC Texas PAC, the committee of a prediction-market company, with $200,000. Meta Platforms has given $1.37 million this cycle to Forge the Future Project with Meta.

The index counts contributions from contributors who listed an address outside Texas on public filings, plus out-of-state political committees, and it traces money given through Texas committees to those committees' own donors. A reported address isn't verified residency. Out-of-state giving is lawful and common, and it says nothing about any person's votes, integrity, or conduct. The index doesn't advocate the election or defeat of any candidate.

"For well over a decade, the Texas Nationalist Movement has called for a ban on out-of-state contributions in Texas campaigns," said Daniel Miller, President of the Texas Nationalist Movement. "This isn't a campaign finance issue. It's a sovereignty issue. We wouldn't let people who live in other states vote in a Texas election, so it's fair to ask why we let them give 21 cents of every dollar raised to win one. Both parties take that money, and the index measures it the same way for every candidate. Texans can look it up at whoboughttexas.com before they vote."