Convenience Big Store: Middleton’s cash surge shakes up AG race

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If money talks, Mayes Middleton is shouting.

And what is he shouting? "I'm MAGA Mayes!"

Ad spending data show the Galveston state senator has poured nearly $11 million into television, digital and radio ads in the GOP primary for attorney general — more than double what frontrunner U.S. Rep. Chip Roy has spent and more than the rest of the field combined. He's blanketed Texas airwaves with his "MAGA Mayes" branding and Trump-centric attacks on Roy.

The influx of cash seems to be working, my indefatigable colleague Taylor Goldenstein reported this week. Middleton has vaulted from single-digit polling last fall to within striking distance of Roy. Back in October, just 3% of Republican voters said they intended to vote for him. Now, with less than two weeks until the March 3 primary, he's just behind Roy, with 23% of GOP voters supporting him compared to 33% who favored the Austin congressman in a new University of Houston poll.

Spending in the Republican AG primary dwarfs ad spending in every other statewide race except the marquee Republican U.S. Senate primary. (Combined, Sen. John Cornyn, current AG Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt have blown through more than $105 million on ads so far, per AdImpact.)

Ad spending data show the Galveston state senator has poured nearly $11 million into television, digital and radio ads in the GOP primary for attorney general — more than double what frontrunner U.S. Rep. Chip Roy has spent and more than the rest of the field combined. He's blanketed Texas airwaves with his

In the AG race, Roy trails at $4.18 million, while former Department of Justice official Aaron Reitz has put up $1.73 million and state Sen. Joan Huffman has spent about $370,000. The Democratic primary spending is small by comparison, but shows a similar imbalance, with state Sen. Nathan Johnson dispatching more than $500,000 total and his opponents spending nothing or next to nothing. Other outside players like the Freedom Caucus Fund and Texas First Initiative have each spent less than $60,000.

For Roy, who entered the race with higher name ID and an early polling edge, the numbers highlight the challenge ahead: competing against a self-funder willing to flood the zone in an all-or-nothing bid for one of the state's most powerful offices.

Who's Up, Who's Down

A daily stock market-style report on key players in Texas politics.

Up: Taylor Rehmet.

Almost three weeks after the Tarrant County Democrat shocked the nation by winning a previously deep-red seat in the Texas Senate, the Air Force veteran and machinist was officially sworn into office on Thursday. Democrats are still greatly outnumbered in the Texas Senate. There are now 18 Republicans, 12 Democrats and one vacant seat that leans Republican. In his speech, Rehmet promised to listen to the voice of the people who sent him to the Legislature and vowed to "solve problems together" with other Senators no matter their political background.

Down: Tony Gonzales.

Days after a former staffer for the San Antonio Congressman showed the Express-News evidence that Gonzales had an affair with an aide who worked in the Republican's Uvalde office, the estranged husband of the woman has also come forward to accuse Gonzales of abusing his power as a member of Congress. "I said the truth would come to light when it's time, and the time is now," Adrian Aviles said. Aviles's wife Regina Ann "Regi" Santos-Aviles died last summer after setting herself on fire.

What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.

Jeremy Wallace, Texas politics reporter

jeremy.wallace@houstonchronicle.com

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