Texas Democrat James Talarico is jumping headlong into his Senate bid against Republican Ken Paxton with a multi-million dollar ad buy, MS NOW has learned.

The Senate candidate, who is hoping to become the first Democrat to win statewide in Texas since 1994, is launching what his team is labeling his first “major” ad of the general election — with a focus on the cost of living. 

In the 30-second spot, shared first with MS NOW, Talarico talks straight to camera while exiting a Red & White food store, a brown paper bag of groceries in hand. The campaign notes that the truck on screen is his own.

“Too many Texans feel like they’re drowning. The cost of groceries, gas, health care,” he says, pledging — if elected to the Senate — that he will “keep fighting to lower your costs.”

Talarico’s campaign told MS NOW the ad buy costs seven-figures, with the spot appearing on local television across many Texas media markets, including Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, and the Harlingen and McAllen region. The campaign says they’ll add more markets between now and election day.

The spot notably doesn’t directly mention Talarico’s general election rival — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — instead homing in on a variation of the “affordability” message Democrats nationwide have made the central pillar of their midterm strategy.

That said, as part of the ad, Talarico says that as a senator he’ll “take on corruption” — a perhaps subtle nod at the sweeping personal and political controversies surrounding Paxton.

In other settings, Talarico has not shied from directly addressing that corruption. Shortly after Paxton successfully beat incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a primary runoff last month to secure the GOP nomination, Talarico dubbed Paxton as “the most corrupt politician in America.”

Paxton, in turn, has cast Talarico as the “most extreme radical the Democrats have ever nominated.”

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As part of the new ad, Talarico touts his work as a member of the Texas state legislature — including his advocacy to cap the monthly out-of-pocket cost of insulin. 

(Some Republicans have taken issue with him claiming credit for the state cap, arguing he was not the lead author of the bill that ultimately became law. Allies defend Talarico — a Type 1 diabetic — as being a prominent advocate for the policy.)

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Talarico, in the spot, also alludes to his vote in support of legislation Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has described as “the largest property tax cut in Texas history.”

The rollout of this new general election ad campaign comes after Talarico launched two smaller ad buys just this month, with both spots aimed at major cultural events: the World Cup and the NBA finals. Both ads didn’t mention Talarico’s electoral adversary by name. 

The first, a 30-second Spanish language spot airing statewide on Telemundo affiliates during U.S. and Mexico matches as part of a six-figure statewide ad-buy, casts Talarico as “on the field for our families” and as someone who will “defend Social Security and Medicare” while making “the billionaires pay their fair share of taxes.”

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The other, which aired specifically in San Antonio — home of the Spurs — during the NBA finals and likewise cost six-figures, touted Talarico’s work as a teacher on San Antonio’s Westside.

Talarico ends the ad by saying, “Go Spurs go.”

The new multi-million dollar ad buy comes just weeks ahead of the quarterly finance filing deadline for Senate campaigns. 

Talarico so far has proven himself to be a prolific fundraiser. A previous filing with the Federal Election Commission showed that as of the end of March, Talarico had — in the first six months since launching his campaign — raised more than $40 million. 

At the time, he had roughly $10 million cash-on-hand.