The Republicans Getting the Most Super PAC Support in 2026

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Companion piece: The Democrats Getting the Most Super PAC Support in 2026. Figures as of mid-October 2026.

No Republican in America is getting more help from super PACs than Ken Paxton. Outside groups had spent nearly $287 million on the Texas Senate race by October 5, and almost $253 million of it came from conservative groups, according to OpenSecrets. No other congressional race comes close.

Paxton is the extreme case of a pattern that runs through the 2026 Senate map. Republican candidates have mostly been outraised by their Democratic opponents, and Republican super PACs have filled the gap. Conservative outside groups had spent more than $1.1 billion this cycle by early October, against roughly $727 million from liberal groups (OpenSecrets).

This article ranks the Republican candidates receiving the most super PAC support, explains who is paying for it, and flags what is unusual about it. We use the same method in our companion piece on Democrats.

The leaderboard

We count super PAC money that helps a candidate either way: ads supporting them and ads attacking their opponent. Most of it is the second kind. Senate candidates dominate the list; no House Republican is close.

Rank Candidate Race Biggest reported super PAC support
1 Ken Paxton Texas Senate (vs. James Talarico) About $253 million from conservative groups across the primary and general (OpenSecrets). Includes Texas PAC (about $134 million) and more than $36 million from MAGA Inc. and its affiliates (Reuters).
2 Jon Husted Ohio Senate special (vs. Sherrod Brown) $171.9 million: $113.5 million attacking Brown and $58.4 million praising Husted. Senate Leadership Fund put in $54.5 million against Brown; crypto super PAC Defend American Jobs nearly $30 million for Husted (Ohio Capital Journal).
3 Mike Rogers Michigan Senate (vs. Abdul El-Sayed) At least $66 million from the two biggest groups: $36.5 million from Senate Leadership Fund and $24.5 million from No Going Back opposing El-Sayed, plus $5.3 million from No Going Back backing Rogers (Legis1).
4 Ashley Hinson Iowa Senate (vs. Josh Turek) $34.3 million from Senate Leadership Fund opposing Turek (Legis1).
5 Michael Whatley North Carolina Senate (vs. Roy Cooper) $30.2 million from Senate Leadership Fund and $8.9 million from No Going Back opposing Cooper (Legis1). SLF has since canceled its North Carolina ads (NBC News).
6 Susan Collins Maine Senate (vs. Troy Jackson) About $22 million from Pine Tree Results PAC (OpenSecrets); Senate Leadership Fund is the top outside spender in the race (Election Law Blog).
7 Dan Sullivan Alaska Senate (vs. Mary Peltola) $14 million from Senate Leadership Fund; outside groups make up about 80% of all spending in the race (Election Law Blog).

Two honorable mentions: Andy Barr in Kentucky, where conservatives spent $46 million, mostly in the contested primary (OpenSecrets), and Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, a safe seat where SLF unexpectedly committed $5 million in October (NBC News).

Read the rankings with care. The figures come from different sources at slightly different dates, and none is a complete tally. Several rows count only the largest groups. The order reflects the best available evidence, not a single audited total.

Who is paying

A handful of groups, and a handful of donors behind them, account for most of this money. As of October 5, the largest Republican-aligned outside spenders were (OpenSecrets):

Group Spent through Oct. 5 Focus
Senate Leadership Fund About $174 million Senate races; aligned with GOP Senate leadership
Texas PAC About $134 million Ken Paxton only; run and partly funded by SLF
No Going Back PAC More than $60 million (with sister group Safety & Affordability PAC, over $209 million by Oct. 14) Senate and House; funded by MAGA Inc.
Congressional Leadership Fund $67.2 million House races; aligned with Speaker Mike Johnson
Americans for Prosperity Action More than $60 million Koch network
Defend American Jobs $56.1 million Crypto industry, Republican side of the Fairshake network

Behind those groups is a short list of very large donors. Elon Musk has given at least $366 million to Republican causes this cycle, a record for any donor, including $158 million to Senate Leadership Fund and $20 million to Congressional Leadership Fund between July and September (The Hill, Brennan Center). Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein have given $138 million and Jeff and Janine Yass $110 million to Republican super PACs this cycle (TIME). Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz gave $115 million to boost Republicans through June (Brennan Center).

What stands out

Single-candidate vehicles funded by one man. Texas PAC was formed August 28 to back Paxton. Musk gave $158 million to Senate Leadership Fund, which transferred matching amounts to Texas PAC (TIME), and Texas PAC reported no other donors through September (CNBC). Anyone reading only Texas PAC's own disclosures would see SLF as its funder, not Musk. OpenSecrets' Brendan Glavin told TIME the money effectively went straight into supporting Paxton.

Outside money as a substitute for candidate money. In the third quarter, Paxton raised about $10.2 million, Rogers $9.7 million, Collins $5.2 million and Husted $4.8 million, all well behind their Democratic opponents (CNBC). Super PACs closed that gap, but at a price: they pay higher ad rates than candidates, who are legally entitled to the lowest available rate.

The Trump factor. MAGA Inc. and the groups it funds are now among the biggest players in Republican Senate races. That is new: no president's super PAC has been a major midterm spender before (Brennan Center). See our full article on where MAGA Inc.'s money has gone.

Triage in the House. The Congressional Leadership Fund has stopped advertising in four districts, including Iowa's 1st and New Jersey's 7th, after spending $13.3 million there, and moved money to 16 others (Daily Signal, MediaBias.news). Trump-aligned groups are spending millions in seats Republicans won easily in 2024, such as Michigan's 4th and North Carolina's 11th (CNBC). Defensive spending of this kind is usually a sign a party expects a hard year.

Does it work? The Washington Post has reported that the Republican spending blitz since the summer has not visibly moved the polls (via Brennan Center). Defenders note that super PAC spending is concentrated in the final weeks, and that its full effect will only be clear after November 3.

How we counted

  • What counts as support: independent expenditures by super PACs and hybrid PACs either supporting the candidate or opposing their general-election opponent. Party committee spending and the candidate's own spending are excluded.
  • Sources: OpenSecrets analysis of FEC filings where available; otherwise FEC figures as reported by named news outlets. Each figure is linked.
  • Limits: Filing schedules differ, and spending after mid-October is only partly reported. Dark-money groups that run issue ads without express advocacy may not appear at all. We will update this list after the post-general reports, due December 3.
  • Same method, both parties: see our companion article, The Democrats Getting the Most Super PAC Support in 2026.

Sources

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