Texas GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton works to overcome fundraising woes

Paxton's fundraising numbers are dwarfed by his predecessor's and opponent's.

Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton needs all the help he can get to support his campaign heading into the fall -- and President Donald Trump is set to deliver.

The president will headline an Aug. 27 fundraiser for Paxton in Houston, a source confirmed to ABC News -- an event that could generate millions of dollars for the cash-strapped Republican nominee, who has trailed Democratic State Rep. James Talarico, his opponent, in fundraising for months.

With less than three months until the general election, Paxton is trailing where Republican Sen. John Cornyn's fundraising totals were during an equivalent time period by more than $13 million, according to an ABC News analysis of Federal Election Commission reports. Paxton defeated Cornyn in Texas' May runoff .

Paxton is also trailing Talarico in fundraising by more than $59 million, according to the latest FEC filings.

A large state with multiple expensive media markets, Texas is a costly battleground for control of the Senate. Republicans are aiming to protect -- or expand -- their 53-47 Senate majority.

Democrats' fundraising success in Texas haven't translated to election wins: A Democrat hasn't won statewide in Texas for more than three decades. But more Democrats voted in the Senate primary last March than Republicans, according to data from the Texas secretary of state, an indication that Democratic enthusiasm could make the race competitive in the fall, operatives with both parties told ABC News.

Paxton's campaign has worked to up their fundraising by sending out emails with subject lines like "This is bad. Very bad!" and "Outraised by over 300%." In a re c ent Fox News appearan c e , Paxton appealed to donors to contribute to his campaign.

"We’re trying to get help from all over the country," Paxton said. "We need help."

But Paxton might not be able to count on all of Cornyn's supporters. Multiple donors who gave thousands of dollars to Cornyn's campaign told ABC News that they were put off by Paxton's history of controversies and scandals .

Paxton had less than 4,200 unique individual donors from the start of the year to the end of June, according to FEC reports. During the equivalent time period when Cornyn was running for reelection in 2020, he had more than 6,200 unique individual donors.

Cornyn’s fundraising total at the end of June 2020 was about $22.4 million , compared to $9.2 million for Paxton at the end of June 2026.

"[Paxton] needs to be calling and getting to know Cornyn donors," a Texas-based GOP consultant told ABC News.

The consultant said Paxton will get a lot of "uncomfortable questions" from donors, adding that "the vast majority of major GOP donors and business leaders in Texas don't like Paxton."