Soros-Backed PAC Launches Blue Texas Bid
with Goal of Dems Taking State Back By 2032
Capitol Inside
June 9, 2025
A group that billionaire George Soros is funding rallied to the aid of Democrats in the nation's largest red state on Monday in a mission aimed at relegating the GOP to minority party status here in seven years or less.
The Texas Majority PAC announced that it plans to pump millions of dollars into the Lone Star State with the initial goal of boosting Democratic turnout for the 2026 midterm elections. The Blue Texas initiative's ultimate objective is to put Democrats in position to reclaim control of Texas government by the year 2032.
The Soros-backed organization expects to shift the effort to second gear in July with the recruiting of volunteers and candidates for races up and down the Texas ballot next year. The New York investor contributed $1 billion to the Texas Majority PAC in April - or 91 percent of the group's total intake during the first four months of 2025.
The Democrats think they have a shot to get the Blue Texas initiative under way with a bang if state Attorney General Ken Paxton is the nominee for the job that U.S. Senator John Cornyn is seeking again.
Democrats could take the Texas House back with a net gain of 13 seats in the 2026 general election after Republicans picked up two in the Legislature's lower chamber last year.
Democrats in Texas and beyond are pinning their hopes on the potential for an epic blue wave that President Donald Trump could ignite and fuel with wildly unconventional and erratic behavior that's marked his second term.
Trump's nasty breakup with Elon Musk, who'd been his right hand man for five months, could contribute to the Democrats' optimism if the Tech billionaire from South Africa starts funding their candidates as the president fears he will do. Trump warned Musk during the weekend that he would face "very serious consequences" if he switches allegiances in revenge with the money he doles out to candidates for next year's vote.
Texas Democrats are hoping for a replay of the midterm elections in Trump's first term when they flipped 12 state House districts in 2018 along with two Senate seats and two in the U.S. House as well. The U.S. Senate race next year gives the Democrats an opportunity to win a statewide contest in Texas for the first time since 1994.
Paxton has enjoyed double-digit leads over Cornyn in early polling on the Senate primary for Republicans. The state lawyer is far more vulnerable than the longtime Senate incumbent in the eyes of Texas Democrats as a consequence of baggage from the AG's impeachment on corruption charges in 2023 and a securities fraud case that culminated in a community service sentence.
The Democrats' success or failure in down-ballot races could depend heavily on the U.S. Senate competition. State Rep. James Talarico of Austin could be the Democratic Party's strongest candidate for Cornyn's seat after revealing late last week that he's weighing a possible Senate bid.
The Texas Majority PAC will have to do better in 2026 than it did in its debut when it spent more than $9 million during the 2024 election cycle. Trump finished stronger in Texas last year than he had in two previous presidential races. After fearing the loss of a half-dozen Texas House seats at the polls in November, the GOP posted a net gain of two instead.
Democrats at the national level had a similar effort known as Battleground Texas raise and spent record sums on an unsuccessful effort designed to turn the state blue when Barack Obama was the president.
Texas Republicans in the meantime will try to capitalize on the Soros name and association with Democrats here to boost their own fundraising and turnout at the polls next fall.
more to come ...
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