Texans vote in most expensive Senate race in US history

Houston, Texas, the US – Texas voters have begun casting ballots in a consequential US Senate race that has already become the most expensive in United States history.

All told, at least $573.2m had been poured into support for both Republican candidate Ken Paxton and Democratic candidate James Talarico ahead of the Tuesday, November 3 vote.

The figure has included at least $212m to support Paxton from billionaire Elon Musk, whose SpaceX company is based in southern Texas.

The sum made voters of varying political persuasions queasy as they cast their ballots in a race that has been defined by affordability issues.

"That kind of money is being spent on the wrong stuff," said Rico Sanchez, a 40-year-old union sheet metal worker who voted for Democrats based on the sky-high cost of living.

"It's about control," he said.

Kasey Blanco, a 21-year-old who split his ballot, voting for Republican Governor Greg Abbott and Democratic US Senate candidate Talarico, echoed the sentiment.

"It's kind of scary," he said. "You see the extent that a lot of these politicians are trying to get into the game and distort the view."

Political power "should be from the people, by the people", Blanco said.

The record spending has included both funds raised by the campaigns, as well as outside spending.

Talarico has outpaced Paxton in campaign funding, raising $155m to Paxton's $40m. Federal law limits fundraising from individual donors, who must identify themselves.

Separately, a huge amount of money has poured in via political action committees called super PACs, which can spend an unlimited amount in support of a candidate but cannot directly coordinate with campaigns.

Paxton has been the largest beneficiary of such spending, including $168m from Musk to the Senate Leadership Fund, which has gone almost completely to supporting the Republican candidate, according to a New York Times analysis.

The newspaper estimated that Musk, who briefly and controversially led US President Donald Trump's federal cost-cutting panel, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), had spent at least $212m on Paxton, noting it was likely an undercount due to so-called "dark money" spending. Trump's MAGA Inc PAC has spent at least $10m to support Paxton.

The Lone Star Rising PAC, meanwhile, has spent at least $21m on Talarico.

With national eyes on Texas, both US Senate candidates gave their closing pitches late Monday.

Talarico seized on Paxton's past corruption allegations as Texas attorney general, drawing attention to Musk's spending spree as evidence of prioritising big money interests over everyday voters.

His campaign has regularly referenced the "Friday Night Lights" television show, the story of an underdog American football team.

A Talarico victory would represent the first time a Democrat has won statewide office in Texas since 1994, with the party long hoping to "turn Texas blue".

"We're going to do something extraordinary," Talarico said from San Antonio. "We're going to do something historic. We're going to shock the billionaires, shock the world, when we take back Texas."

Paxton has portrayed Talarico as antithetical to the ideals of Texas, which has been dominated by Republicans for three decades. The state's low-tax, low-regulation model, mixed with conservative social policies, has long given it special significance in Republican mythos.

Paxton's campaign has repeatedly referenced the 1836 Texas Revolution, an uprising against then-Mexican control.

"We've never been this close to losing everything that we hold dear – our jobs, our livelihoods, our way of life in Texas," he said at an event in Collin County. "If Texas falls, we don't have another Texas to move to."

Casting her ballot on Tuesday, 46-year-old Texas voter Monique Orellana said she was uncomfortable with Musk's spending.

"He's pouring all that money out here, trying to get whatever he's trying to get," she told Al Jazeera.

Regardless of party, she wanted elected officials to do their job and represent the people.

"I would vote for Republicans if I felt they were gonna do what they said they were gonna do. Right now I'm not feeling it," she said.

"Trump said he wasn't going to start a war, and he did anyway. And he said he was going to fix the price of groceries on day one. They went up anyway," she said.

Voter Luis Plazas, 58, said he was not as concerned about the election spending, but wanted to see the economy improve and a pivot on Trump's mass deportation campaign.

Still, he said, he voted Republican down the ballot, a decision he said was motivated by his religious beliefs.

"I'm a Christian, so I believe in family values, and it seems like Republicans are more inclined to that," he said.

"I'm not really happy with the contenders or who I voted for, but my main concern right now is conservative values."