Political ads · 2026 · TX

Texas House District 38 2026: the ads, and who's paying for them

Jon Bonck won · 51.5% to 47.3% · Called by AP on Nov 4

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Jon Bonck (Republican), Melissa McDonough (Democrat) and Alex McMenemy (Green) are the nominees for Texas's 38th congressional district in the November 3, 2026 general election. By their latest FEC reports, Jon Bonck's campaign had raised $2.2 million (through October 14, 2026), Melissa McDonough's campaign $125,000 (through October 14, 2026) and Alex McMenemy's campaign $10,000 (through October 14, 2026). Outside groups have reported $652,000 for Jon Bonck and $44,000 against; $0 for Melissa McDonough and $3,000 against.

Jon Bonck (REP), Melissa McDonough (DEM), Alex McMenemy (GRE). 9 others filed with the FEC; any ads they ran are below. 0 ads analyzed, 0 with at least one technique in the copy. Newest first. The paid-for-by line is the advertiser's own filing.

Voting in Austin? 10 local ballot measures → The ballot wording read for rhetorical techniques, and who is paying for and against each.

How to vote in Texas

From Texas's official election office. Each line links to the official page it came from.

Registration	Register by Mon, Oct 5 (30th day before Election Day, moved to the next business day. Mailed applications must be postmarked by the deadline. New registrations are on paper; online is only for updating an existing record.) (passed)Source: votetexas.gov ↗
Early voting in person	Mon, Oct 19 to Fri, Oct 30 (passed)Source: sos.state.tx.us ↗
By mail	Mail voting needs a reason the state accepts (Only these voters qualify: away from the county, sick or disabled, expecting to give birth within 3 weeks of Election Day, 65 or older, or confined in jail or involuntary civil commitment); request a ballot by Fri, Oct 23 (Must be received by this date; a postmark does not count); return it by Tue, Nov 3 (Received by 7 pm on Election Day, or postmarked by 7 pm on Election Day and received by 5 pm on Nov 4) (passed)Source: sos.state.tx.us ↗Source: votetexas.gov ↗
Election Day	Tue, Nov 3. Polls: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (passed)Source: votetexas.gov ↗
ID at the polls	One of 7 acceptable photo IDs. A voter who cannot reasonably get one may sign a Reasonable Impediment Declaration and show supporting ID instead.Source: votetexas.gov ↗

Check your registration and polling place ↗ Texas's official election site ↗

Checked October 6, 2026. Rules can change; confirm with the official site before you go.

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Money in this race

From FEC filings for 2025–26. Outside spending is money a group spends on its own about a candidate — TV and online ads, mail, canvassing. It is not a donation to the campaign, and the candidate does not control it. Supporting means it was spent to help that candidate win; Opposing means it was spent to defeat them, usually on attack ads. Groups report it within 24 or 48 hours as the election nears. Raised is the campaign's own fundraising, as of its latest quarterly report. Largest donors come from each outside spender's own FEC receipts, with each donor's share of its itemized receipts; donors under $100,000 are not named. People are shown with the employer and occupation they reported. A donor that is itself a political committee is shown with its own largest donors. Companies and nonprofits don't report their funders to the FEC, so the trail ends there, and the page says so.

Jon Bonck (REP)

Raised: $2.2M through 2026-10-14 individuals $1.1M · PACs $327K · candidate's own money, incl. loans $451K · from the candidate's other committees $201K · cash on hand $248K
Outside spending: $44K opposing Bonck · $652K supporting Bonck · latest reported 2026-10-20
Largest outside spenders: DEFEND AMERICAN JOBS — $348K supporting Bonck Largest donors: FAIRSHAKE $37.0M (>99%) (its largest donors: RIPPLE LABS INC. $48.0M, an organization; COINBASE $25.0M, an organization; COINBASE COMMERCE (EXCHANGE) $8.2M, an organization); RIPPLE LABS INC. $250K (1%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC) CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION — $280K supporting Bonck Largest donors: Jeff Yass $16.5M (34%), SIG, Managing Director; RESTORATION OF AMERICA PAC $15.0M (30%); MARSHA FOR SENATE $4.8M (10%); RESTORATION OF AMERICA PAC $2.5M (5%); RESTORATION OF AMERICA PAC $2.5M (5%) (its largest donors: Richard E Uihlein $57.7M, Uline; RESTORATION OF AMERICA $1.7M, an organization; AMERICAN LEADERSHIP PAC $1.0M) FIGHT TO WIN AMERICA, INC. — $27K opposing Bonck Largest donors: Paul Elliott Singer $650K (20%), Elliott Management Corporation, President; COURAGE ACTION INC. $500K (15%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC); CONSERVATIVE AMERICANS PAC $500K (15%); William O III Perkins $300K (9%), Skylar Capital Management, CEO & President; PATRIOTIC FUND, INC. $250K (8%) A BETTER MAJORITY PAC — $17K opposing Bonck CLUB FOR GROWTH PAC — $14K supporting Bonck and 2 more

Bundled through PACs: $22K through 2 PACs · FEC bulk data of 2026-11-01 CLUB FOR GROWTH PAC — $12K from 20 gifts SENATE CONSERVATIVES FUND — $9,375 from 13 gifts

42 PACs gave directly — alphabetical; the legal limit is $5,000 per election

AMERICAN DREAM DELIVERED PAC $1,000
AMERICAN OPTOMETRIC ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $5,000
AMERICAN REVIVAL PAC $10K
BUCKEYE LIBERTY PAC $5,000
BUILDING RENEWAL IN AMERICA NOW PAC $2,500
CHRIS GOBER FOR TEXAS $1,000
CLUB FOR GROWTH PAC $1,125
CRUZ LPAC $10K
DRILLERSPAC $2,500
ELECTING MAJORITY MAKING EFFECTIVE REPUBLICANS $5,000
EMMER FOR CONGRESS $4,000
EMMER PAC $10K
EMPOWER CLINIC SERVICES L.L.C./EMPOWER PHARMACY LLC PAC $3,500
EYE OF THE TIGER PAC $15K
FIRST SERVICE CREDIT UNION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (FSCU $500
FREEDOM FIRST PAC $6,000
GAINES FOR CONGRESS $1,000
GILL PAC $10K
GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING FOR BETTER ELECTION RESULTS PAC $1,000
INDEPENDENT BANKERS ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS FEDERAL PAC (IBAT FEDPAC) $1,500
JACE YARBROUGH FOR CONGRESS $1,000
JIM JORDAN FOR CONGRESS $2,000
JOBS, FREEDOM, AND SECURITY PAC $10K
KOCH PAC $5,000
LAXALT FOR SENATE $4,000
MARK ALFORD FOR CONGRESS $3,000
MARY MILLER FOR CONGRESS $1,000
MIKE JOHNSON FOR LOUISIANA $6,000
MORTGAGE BANKERS ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (MORPAC) $2,000
NATHANIEL MORAN FOR CONGRESS $2,000
NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION $2,500
NEXTDECADE CORPORATION PAC $2,000
PHILLIPS 66 PAC $5,000
RAPTOR PAC $5,000
REPUBLICANS UNITED TO DEFEND YOU PAC (RUDY PAC) $3,500
RVF PAC $2,000
SAZERAC COMPANY INC. PAC (SAZERACPAC) $1,000
SCALISE FOR CONGRESS $6,000
SENATE CONSERVATIVES FUND $5,000
TARGA RESOURCE CORP. FEDRAL PAC $2,500
TEXANS FOR JODEY ARRINGTON $2,000
TEXAS VALUES PAC (TX) $5,000

All filings at the FEC ↗

Melissa McDonough (DEM)

Raised: $125K through 2026-10-14 individuals $75K · PACs $500 · party $1,000 · candidate's own money, incl. loans $48K · cash on hand $44K
Outside spending: $2,906 opposing McDonough · latest reported 2026-10-28
Largest outside spenders: AMERICAN PRINCIPLES PROJECT PAC — $2,906 opposing McDonough Largest donors: RESTORATION PAC $4.4M (81%); AMERICAN PRINCIPLES PROJECT $685K (13%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC); CHRISTIAN ACTIVATION INITIATIVE LLC $100K (2%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC)

Bundled through PACs: none reported · FEC bulk data of 2026-11-01

1 PAC gave directly — alphabetical; the legal limit is $5,000 per election

LEE PAC $500

All filings at the FEC ↗

Alex McMenemy (GRE)

Raised: $9,888 through 2026-10-14 individuals $5,781 · PACs $0 · candidate's own money, incl. loans $4,107 · cash on hand $746
Outside spending: none reported

Bundled through PACs: none reported · FEC bulk data of 2026-11-01

All filings at the FEC ↗

No campaign ads analyzed for this race yet.

What this page is

An ad is on this page because its own "Paid for by" line is a campaign in this race; or it comes from a national Senate group and ran mostly in TX; or it ran mostly in TX and names a candidate — unless its sponsor is a campaign for some other office. Ads from outside groups appear alongside the campaigns' own.
Campaigns run one text as many separate ads. Identical text from the same sponsor is one card here, marked with its number of variants.
A technique is a specific rhetorical move in the wording, found by our model and explained in one line. It is not a claim that the ad is false.
Claims are checked when a reader asks: press "Check this ad's claims" on a card. Running a check and seeing its verdicts are part of Semblen Pro, because each check costs money to run; anyone can see which claims an ad makes. The ten ads with the most money behind them in each race are checked ahead of time.
Claim verdicts say what the cited sources say. A verdict that an ad is wrong or misleading is shown only when it cites an established fact-checker or an institutional record — Congress, a federal agency, a court — and its confidence is not low; a weaker one is not shown at all. Each verdict shows what it rests on and how confident it is. If we got one wrong, press Disagree: a verdict that readers dispute and no one defends comes down.
Video ads come from the campaigns' own YouTube channels; the transcript is analyzed. Meta ads are analyzed on their text; their video and images are not, yet.