Few outside Texas had heard of middle-school teacher turned state lawmaker and seminarian James Talarico before he kicked off a run of high-profile podcast and television appearances last year.

On his media tour, the eighth generation Texan made his stance on money in politics clear. He told Joe Rogan that “it doesn’t matter who the elected officials are if these billionaires buy whoever’s elected.”

But the U.S. Senate candidate’s attacks on billionaires—which he has called “the only minority destroying America”—have not deterred at least seven billionaires from lending the Texan their financial support. Talarico’s campaign and super PACs supporting his candidacy have received at least $2.5 million in total from billionaire households, according to a Forbes analysis. Talarico’s billionaire backers amassed their wealth mainly in tech or finance. Many have a track record of supporting Democrats in nationwide races, though a couple are power brokers in Texas politics who have given money to candidates from both parties.

“If any billionaire wants to tax themselves more and limit their political influence, they’re welcome to help defeat politicians like Ken Paxton,” Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis tells Forbes. The campaign adds that 97% of Talarico’s donations in the first quarter of 2026 were $100 or less. Paxton, the Republican attorney general of Texas since 2015, attracted several billionaire supporters of his own in his successful primary challenge to incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn but not as many as Talarico.

Talarico won his primary on March 3; the latest........

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