{"id":97253,"date":"2026-09-02T23:17:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T23:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/dark-money-in-texas-senate-race-spurs-talarico-complaint-to-fec-against-paxton\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T23:17:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T23:17:51","slug":"dark-money-in-texas-senate-race-spurs-talarico-complaint-to-fec-against-paxton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/dark-money-in-texas-senate-race-spurs-talarico-complaint-to-fec-against-paxton\/","title":{"rendered":"Dark money in Texas Senate race spurs Talarico complaint to FEC against Paxton"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>Earlier this year, a super PAC supporting Texas Republican Senate nominee <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/texas-senate-gop-runoff-results-paxton-cornyn-trump-talarico\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Ken Paxton<\/a><\/span> received <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/?contributor_name=Preserve+Texas&amp;data_type=processed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">four checks<\/a> totaling over $1 million from an organization called Preserve Texas, Inc.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Preserve Texas is not registered as a political committee and has not filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission that could reveal where the money came from. Instead, it is a Virginia-based nonprofit, incorporated by John Plishka, the treasurer for Paxton&#8217;s Senate campaign, according to corporate documents filed in Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>The arrangement, part of the dramatic uptick in American politics of anonymous, big-dollar giving, has now drawn a complaint from the campaign of Paxton&#8217;s Democratic opponent, <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/texas-primary-democratic-results-2026-midterm-elections-james-talarico-jasmine-crockett\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">James Talarico<\/a><\/span>, which accused Paxton and his treasurer of violating federal campaign finance rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Republicans are &#8220;illegally spending dark money outside of the federal contribution limits to promote&#8221; Paxton&#8217;s candidacy, argued Seth Krasne, Talarico&#8217;s campaign manager, in a complaint submitted to the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday and reviewed by CBS News.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint states, &#8220;It appears that Mr. Paxton \u2014 via his agent Mr. Plishka \u2014 established and controls Preserve Texas Inc., a dark money entity that has spent substantial sums to influence Mr. Paxton&#8217;s election while shielding their donors from public scrutiny.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the complaint, Krasne asked the FEC for an investigation, citing a provision of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act intended to keep candidates from using outside groups to collect money they could not lawfully accept themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Money raised under those rules is capped: Senate <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/ted-cruz-interview-texas-senate-race-ken-paxton-james-talarico\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">campaigns<\/a><\/span> can accept $3,500 each from individuals for the primary and general elections, but every donor above $200 must be named in public filings, and campaigns cannot accept money from corporations or unions. Nonprofits do not face the same constraints.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Because the corporation appears to have been established and controlled by Mr. Paxton&#8217;s agent, it may not receive or spend any funds in connection with Mr. Paxton&#8217;s election that are not subject to the act&#8217;s source restrictions, contribution limits, and reporting requirements,&#8221; the complaint read, citing the money Preserve Texas sent to the pro-Paxton super PAC \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/committee\/C00901223\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lone Star Liberty<\/a> \u2014 from February to May.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Greg Keller, a spokesperson for Lone Star Liberty, said in a statement shared with CBS News that the PAC &#8220;fully follows all regulations and laws.&#8221; The statement accused Talarico of &#8220;claiming to oppose money in politics&#8221; while embracing what a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.notus.org\/money\/redboxing-campaign-websites-resources-for-outside-groups\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> in the news outlet NOTUS called a &#8220;loophole&#8221; to provide super PACs with campaign materials. More than a dozen Democratic candidates have embraced this loophole, called &#8220;redboxing,&#8221; the report said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Either way, the FEC is unlikely to act on the Talarico campaign&#8217;s complaint against Paxton before Election Day, since the independent body lacks enough commissioners to vote on opening investigations after a series of departures, including President Trump&#8217;s <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/democratic-fec-chair-ellen-weintraub-trump-fired-her\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">firing of a Democratic commissioner<\/a><\/span>. Still, the lines of attack from both sides illustrate how tensions have risen in American politics over the hundreds of millions in <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/billionaires-dark-money-fuel-questions-ahead-of-2026-midterms\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">anonymous donations flowing<\/a><\/span> into the 2026 midterm elections to decide control of the House and Senate.<\/p>\n<p>Spending in the Texas Senate race has ballooned, thanks to eight-figure advertising buys and cash infusions from super PACs that may raise and spend unlimited sums. The race is widely viewed as a toss-up.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ken Paxton&#8217;s campaign treasurer is the same person running one of his dark money groups,&#8221; said J.T. Ennis, a spokesman for the Talarico campaign. &#8220;That is plainly illegal. Paxton&#8217;s donors should know that he is wrapping them up in his own criminality \u2014 and Texans should know who is behind the dark money spreading Paxton&#8217;s lies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This week, the Paxton-aligned Lone Star Liberty PAC launched a $15 million ad campaign that will air across 18 markets in Texas over the next two weeks, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/08\/31\/ken-paxton-ad-campaign-01057911\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Politico<\/a> first reported. To date, the largest individual donation that the group received came from Preserve Texas, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/?two_year_transaction_period=2026&amp;committee_id=C00901223&amp;data_type=processed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">campaign finance records<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Virginia-based Preserve Texas is listed in campaign finance records as having made donations to no other groups except Lone Star Liberty.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Richard Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, specializing in campaign finance regulation, said the validity of the Talarico campaign&#8217;s complaint would depend on whether Preserve Texas was &#8220;established, financed, maintained or controlled&#8221; by Plishka, and whether Plishka was acting as Paxton&#8217;s &#8220;agent&#8221; when he formed it. Federal rules define an agent as a person with &#8220;actual authority, either express or implied,&#8221; to spend or direct funds in connection with any election for a candidate.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;These allegations raise a plausible claim that Paxton&#8217;s treasurer violated Federal Election Commission rules,&#8221; Hasen said. &#8220;That does not necessarily mean that Paxton did \u2014 the raising and spending of unregulated money would have to be at Paxton&#8217;s direction, or at least with his knowledge.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Preya Samsundar, a spokeswoman for Preserve Texas, said in a statement shared with CBS News that the group &#8220;is an independent social welfare organization operating fully within its primary purpose under section 501(c)(4), which is civic engagement and issue advocacy on matters affecting Texas communities.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She said Preserve Texas &#8220;has made all filings required of it with the IRS and other relevant authorities and is in full compliance with applicable law.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Preserve Texas is not established, financed, maintained, or controlled by any federal candidate or agent of a candidate, and it makes its own decisions independently,&#8221; Samsundar said. &#8220;Services provided by John Plishka are purely administrative in nature, limited to recordkeeping, filings, and back-office support, and involve no strategic role.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Questions about groups embracing hard-to-trace fundraising methods have intensified as the November elections draw closer. A New York Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/08\/31\/us\/politics\/the-least-transparent-midterm-how-dark-money-is-washing-over-the-2026-election.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">analysis<\/a> of advertising data, campaign filings, and tax returns in late August slotted the amount of anonymous political money in 2026 at roughly $1 billion.<\/p>\n<p>The Texas Senate race, alone, is responsible for a huge chunk of that spending. Earlier this year, software company AdImpact projected a record-breaking $446 million in total <a href=\"https:\/\/adimpact.com\/blogs\/tx-senate-ad-analysis-the-most-expensive-senate-primary-on-record\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ad spending<\/a> in Texas. One of the largest beneficiaries of dark money in 2026 was Sen. John Cornyn, the incumbent Republican who lost in a primary runoff to Paxton. <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/billionaires-dark-money-fuel-questions-ahead-of-2026-midterms\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">CBS News previously reported<\/a><\/span> on tens of millions in pro-Cornyn PAC dollars that came from a group called Ohio Works that does not disclose its donors and listed its address as a Parcel Plus shipping and mailing store in Alexandria, Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>Saurav Ghosh, the director of federal campaign finance reform for Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit that researches money in politics, said that transparency, ultimately, is the overarching concern amid the spending uptick. (The Paxton campaign did not respond to requests for comment).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Funding campaigns with dark money \u2014 including funds from undisclosed donors used to finance super PAC contributions \u2014 harms voters and can foster corruption,&#8221; Ghosh said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"chartbeat\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  component--type-recirculation-collection\">\n<div class=\"component__heading-wrapper recirc\">\n<h3 class=\"component__title\">2026 Midterm Elections<br \/>\n                          <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/feature\/2026-midterm-elections\/?intcid=CNI-00-10aaa3a\" class=\"component__view-more component__view-more--lg\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\"><br \/>\n                More<br \/>\n                <svg viewbox=\"0 0 32 32\" class=\"icon__caret-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n                  <use 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\/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/texas-dark-money-talarico-complaint-paxton\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this year, a super PAC supporting Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton received four checks totaling over $1 million<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[9025,7214,645,899],"class_list":["post-97253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-james-talarico","tag-ken-paxton","tag-texas","tag-united-states-senate"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dark money in Texas Senate race spurs Talarico complaint to FEC against Paxton - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"James 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