A new 30-second ad from the super PAC backing James Talarico's U.S. Senate campaign features a former Texas Republican lawmaker declaring that he will "never" support Attorney General Ken Paxton.

CNN reported Wednesday that in the spot, former state Rep. Glenn Rogers says: "I'll never trust Ken Paxton, I'll never support Ken Paxton and the last place he should be is the United States Senate."

Rogers is hardly a left-leaning Republican. He is a rancher and veterinarian from outside Fort Worth who has long criticized the direction the Republican Party has taken in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott challenged Rogers in the 2024 GOP primary after Rogers refused to support school vouchers.

"The ad will run statewide on digital and streaming platforms as part of the group's eight-figure effort in the general election," CNN reported, citing a spokesperson for the political action committee. The network added that it comes "as Democrats confront a spike in outside GOP spending in recent days, suddenly giving Paxton's side a huge advertising advantage in the closing weeks of the tight race." The general election is set for November 3.

Fresh polling in Texas puts the race in a statistical tie, but Fox7 Austin reported that a growing problem appears to be emerging for Paxton. The new survey from Texas Southern University's Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center found that "more than a quarter of those who identified themselves as moderate Republicans said they plan to 'break ranks' and vote for the Democrat." Talarico, meanwhile, continues to draw additional support from independents. Whether that unease within Paxton's own party holds through Election Day is one of the central questions of the race's final stretch.

Republican-aligned groups have poured money into Paxton's campaign after the attorney general appeared to lag in fundraising. His former GOP opponent in the Senate race, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), whose seat Paxton and Talarico are now competing to fill, warned that Paxton is too "lazy" to fundraise.

The Texas Tribune reported Tuesday that GOP-aligned groups have put more than $140 million behind the struggling Paxton. That total includes roughly $100 million from the Senate Leadership Fund's Texas PAC, more than $19 million from Lone Star Liberty PAC and more than $16 million from MAGA Inc. The scale of the spending reflects the stakes: the outcome in Texas will factor into whether Republicans hold their slim Senate majority after the midterms.

CNN noted that Talarico has invested heavily in spotlighting Republicans who know Paxton well to explain why the attorney general is not fit for higher office. The campaign rolled out a "Republicans for Talarico" coalition featuring endorsements from "Dan Cogdell, a Paxton lawyer in the impeachment trial, and David Maxwell, a former top Paxton staffer who testified in his impeachment trial." Paxton was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 before being acquitted by the state Senate.

Meanwhile, Politico reported Tuesday that Republicans appear to be cutting their losses in other states, including North Carolina and Georgia.

The broader political environment remains difficult for the GOP: an NPR/PBS/Marist poll conducted last week showed Democrats at 53 on the generic congressional ballot — a standard measure of which party voters nationwide prefer for Congress — with Republicans standing at 41 percent.