Texas Senate runoff festers with record ad buys from elusive donors

Texas Tribune outlines a record‑shattering, multi‑million ad battle in the Cornyn–Paxton GOP Senate runoff, funded by a sprawling network of campaigns, PACs and largely opaque dark‑money groups. The piece highlights major donors and groups (including Bush, Murdoch, Ross Perot Jr., the Waltons, Harlan Crow, John Nau, Stephen Schwarzman) and donor‑funding mechanics that let Cornyn outspend Paxton overall, while both sides unleash aggressive attack ads. It also notes the role of 501(c)(4) organizations in masking donors and compiles spending data from the FEC and AdImpact up to early May.