Proceeds from the Houston fundraiser headlined by President Donald Trump last Thursday are going to the Republican National Committee (RNC), not to the cash-strapped Senate campaign of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to a Wall Street Journal report — leaving it unclear whether any of the money will be allocated to Paxton's bid. The arrangement means the funds flow first into the national party's coffers, from which the RNC decides how to direct resources across federal races nationwide, rather than going straight to the candidate.

The fundraising gap is stark. Paxton's Democratic opponent, James Talarico, has raised $68 million from large- and small-dollar donors, "dwarfing" Paxton's $9 million, the Journal reported. Although Talarico is still viewed as "a long shot in deep-red Texas," his campaign is fueling Democratic hopes of winning statewide office for the first time since the 1990s. Texas Republicans have not lost a statewide race since 1994, the longest such streak in the nation. Race raters at Fox News, the Cook Political Report, and the Center for Politics have all shifted the contest from "leans R" to "toss-up."

"Texas Republicans have challenges in the race," the Journal reported. "They are managing fury over the Trump administration bulldozing sensitive habitats in Big Bend National Park for border-wall infrastructure planned in the park. They have been navigating rising voter opposition, especially in rural areas, to construction of new data centers. They have seen backlash to a new state ban on some THC products. And they have continued to have to defend the state of the economy under Trump."

According to the Journal, Paxton's "biggest asset" remains Trump's endorsement, which carried him through a brutal primary against Sen. John Cornyn. The president told reporters, "we want to win that race." The seat is open because Cornyn is not seeking re-election, making it one of the races that will determine control of the Senate next year.

Still, Paxton "needs the cash badly," the Journal reported. His record of suing Texas businesses as attorney general has alienated "wealthy potential donors." Pro-Paxton super PACs such as "Preserve Texas" have reserved just over $4 million in advertising, compared with more than $30 million reserved by Talarico's campaign. The advertising disparity matters because reserved airtime often shapes name recognition and message delivery in the closing stretch of a campaign.