Ken Paxton has accused James Talarico, his rival in the Texas Senate Race, of corrupt practices during his time as a state representative, adding another layer to the already bitter contest as it enters its final stretch. MAYA received millions of dollars’ worth of contracts from TEA during this period. A spokesperson for the Republican National Committee described this as a “textbook pay-to-play scheme” on the part of Talarico.
Talarico's campaign called the allegations a “lie,” telling Fox News that his work with MAYA was in full compliance with state legislature rules and that this had no connection to any contracts the firm received. The Fox News report highlights that Talarico did not have any vote on or influence over these contracts, and there is no evidence he used “tax dollars to benefit himself” as Paxton alleges. Newsweek has contacted both campaigns and VIDA Collaborative for comment outside of regular hours, and will update this story if a response is received.
According to Talarico’s campaign financial disclosures, he earned $83,333.40 for his work with MAYA in 2025. Over this period, records from Texas’s Legislative Budget Board show that MAYA received contracts from TEA in 2021 and 2022 totaling $3.5 million and $1.6 million, respectively. Fox News reports that Talarico was a voting member of the Public Education Committee at the time of these contracts, though VIDA CEO Kassi Longoria told the outlet that the state representative "never worked under, received compensation from, or was involved in securing any state- or federally-funded contracts.” She added that there were provisions in place to ensure no conflict of interest between his consulting work and public duties, and said: “Representative Talarico’s relationship with VIDA was disclosed in his required public financial disclosure filings.” A spokesperson for the Talarico campaign likewise said that Talarico’s work was “fully disclosed in compliance with Texas House rules" and added that he "had no involvement in MAYA Consulting securing any public contracts and his contract with MAYA barred him from representing MAYA before the Texas Legislature or education agencies." "Ken Paxton is making up lies about James to distract from the fact that he’s been impeached by his own party for bribery, reported to the FBI by his own staff, and indicted for investment fraud for scamming his own friends," the Talarico spokesperson continued.
Paxton, who won his primary over the incumbent Republican John Cornyn in May with the backing of President Donald Trump, has faced a slew of allegations and corruption investigations over the course of his career. The Texas attorney general was indicted on charges relating to securities fraud in 2015, though the case was dropped in 2024 after Paxton agreed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution. As the spokesperson alluded to, several of Paxton’s top staffers reported corruption concerns to law enforcement in 2020, which later sparked an investigation by the FBI.
And in May 2023, the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives approved 20 articles of impeachment against Paxton—including obstruction of justice, bribery and “unfitness for office,” among others—though he was acquitted by the Texas Senate in September of that year. This record of ethical controversies has been a key attack line for the Talarico campaign, which released an ad in August calling Paxton “the most corrupt politician in Texas.” Talarico leads Paxton across all major polls six weeks out from the midterms, with the margins ranging from a healthy advantage for the Democrat to a tighter contest come November 3. According to those listed by the New York Times, Paxton has not led a poll since an August 9-10 survey from Emerson College—a 1-point edge—though the pair were neck-and-neck in an August 21-24 survey from Overton Insights.
An August 18-22 poll from Texas Southern University had Talarico holding significant leads over Paxton in three districts—TX-15, TX-28 and TX-34—which President Trump carried by double digits in 2024. Questioned on the state of the race during a recent Fox News appearance, Paxton said: “I don’t trust all these polls. We have our own polling that suggests maybe a little different result, but we definitely have a close race.” Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Cristina Diciu.
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