State Rep. James Talarico raised over $7.4 million in the first six weeks of the year, already outpacing his fourth quarter figure and bringing his total for the cycle to over $20 million.
The haul is the latest — and largest — in a string of strong fundraising performances for the Austin Democrat. Talarico raised $6.2 million in the first three weeks of his campaign and nearly $7 million from October through December. The Talarico campaign said donations have come from every county in Texas and all 50 states throughout the cycle.
“We have a moral imperative to win this November — because if we don’t win, we can’t help people,” Talarico said in a statement. “With the help of more than 290,000 of our neighbors, we’re building a campaign that can stand up to the billionaire mega-donors and far right extremists hurting working people all across Texas and the country.”
Talarico has built a strong small-dollar donor network — his campaign says he’s received over 500,000 donations from over 290,000 individuals since launching his bid in September — and has a cash advantage over his primary opponent, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas.
Crockett raised $6.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, though about $4.5 million was transferred from her House account. Talarico began the year with a $1.5 million advantage over the Dallas congresswoman in cash on hand. Crockett has not released any fundraising figures since her fourth quarter report.
In the lead-up to the March 3 primary between the two, Talarico, the lesser-known of the two, has deployed millions of dollars in ads and far outspent Crockett.
The Talarico campaign has spent over $8.6 million in advertising, while an allied group, Lone Star Rising PAC, has dropped an additional $4.1 million, including about $1.3 million in future reservations booked out through the primary.
The Crockett campaign, by contrast, has spent $1.4 million in advertising, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact.
Crockett released her first broadcast ad on Super Bowl Sunday, a 30-second anime-style spot that contrasted the congresswoman with President Donald Trump and showed her standing with an enormous crowd that may have been generated with artificial intelligence. Crockett has not directly answered if AI was used in the creation of the ad.
Talarico released a Super Bowl ad of his own with a theme of corruption, in which he pledges to take on dark money, ban stock trading among politicians and raise taxes on the ultra-wealthy to fund “tax cuts for the rest of us.”
The $7.4 million haul comes as the Democratic primary has heated up after New Year’s. In particular, former Rep. Colin Allred, who dropped out of the Senate primary in December, endorsed Crockett in a tense episode in which Allred accused Talarico — based on the disputed allegation of an influencer — of referring to him as a “mediocre Black man.” Talarico said the conversation was mischaracterized, and that he referred to Allred’s 2024 Senate campaign — but not his life or service — as mediocre. Talarico also said he would never attack Allred on the basis of race.
And while the ads that both candidates have run have remained positive, Lone Star Rising PAC, which is backing Talarico, began airing a negative ad about Crockett earlier this month, noting that she is Republicans’ preferred candidate because they believe she will be easier to beat.
A super PAC backing Crockett has yet to make any ad reservations.
