One of the first pro-Paxton ads from MAGA Inc. casts the Republican as confronting the rising costs Texans face with proposals to reduce their tax bills.

“High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans’ pockets,” MAGA, Inc. spokesman Alex Pfeiffer said in a statement on Saturday. “MAGA Inc. is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico’s radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate.”

Talarico’s campaign shot back, [...] “Billionaire-backed dark money groups are lying about James Talarico because they’re scared of the people-powered movement we’re building to fix this broken, corrupt political system,” campaign spokesperson JT Ennis said in a statement later on Saturday. “James was proud to vote for the largest property tax cut in Texas history and has consistently voted to cut taxes for working Texans.”

Together with new spending from a super PAC aligned with billionaire Elon Musk, a wave of Republican cash to aid Paxton could change the contours of a race critical to the GOP’s hopes of retaining control of the chamber after November’s midterm elections. Democrats need to net just four seats to win the Senate majority.

[...] Trump’s decision earlier this year to back Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the primary election had raised concerns about the high price of making the controversial Paxton more appealing to voters in the general election.

[...] CNN previously reported that the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund, both of which strongly backed Cornyn in the primary, had looked to MAGA Inc. to take the lead in backing Paxton in the general election.