Free Republic

AUSTIN, Texas — A 40-year-old man was arrested in Texas early Wednesday on suspicion of plotting to attack the state Capitol, authorities said, in an act reportedly motivated by anger at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobby group. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) said in a statement that it received “credible information about an individual planning a violent attack” for Thursday in Austin. Officials did not provide details about the alleged plot, citing an ongoing investigation. The tip came in Tuesday evening, and SWAT officers made the arrest at about 3 a.m. Wednesday...

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate state Rep. James Talarico has launched a $25 million statewide initiative to reach Black voters six weeks before election day. The initiative is multifaceted and launched as Talarico continues to lead Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the polls. A Real Clear Politics average of multiple recent polls has Talarico beating Paxton by three points. The once strong Republican seat has been labeled toss-up by Real Clear Politics and other organizations. “There is no way to win Texas without sustained, on-the-ground engagement in Black communities,” Talarico said. His campaign’s plan “further solidifies our commitment to organize...

Ken Paxton, one of the party’s top Senate candidates and a Trump loyalist, said that “everybody’s numbers dropped” after the event, according to audio obtained by The Times. Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for Senate in Texas, told a group of conservative donors and lobbyists last week that President Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas had hurt Mr. Paxton politically, according to an audio recording obtained by The New York Times. The recording, which is muffled at times, captures Mr. Paxton being asked, “Do you feel like he’s a little bit of a drag?” It is not clear from the audio...

State Sen. Angela Paxton finally appears to be weighing in publicly on Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate run, more than a year after she filed to divorce him “on biblical grounds.” At a gathering for the Texas Federation of Republican Women late last week, she encouraged attendees to vote party line down the ballot, “even if we’re mad at them.” “It’s not the people, it’s the seat,” she said Friday in a video posted on Facebook by one of the group’s deputy regional presidents. “Because we have more control over that seat and the future when we control the seat –...

New undercover footage shows a minister at Democrat U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico’s longtime church saying the congregation does not have “a lot of people who are religious” and describing St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church as “not a belief-based church.” In the video obtained by Texas Scorecard, Rev. Carol Johnson describes St. Andrew’s as a “sanctuary church” and says an illegal alien from Guatemala who has “worked here for 8 years” has been living inside the church. “We don’t have a lot of people who are religious here,” said Johnson. “We’re not a belief-based church. We’re a values-based church,” she added....

Sep 20, 2026 #BrandonGill #JamesTalarico #KenPaxton Republicans launched a new ad attacking Democratic Senate nominee for Texas James Talarico, featuring a much younger face than that of GOP nominee Ken Paxton, who recently drew the mockery of President Donald Trump for the way he looks. Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX), a rising star in GOP circles, stars in the ad, which goes after Talarico’s past stances on transgender surgeries for China and public safety.

Jesus is not your campaign surrogate. I don’t normally comment on political races, but when I see someone who is as fundamentally full of sh-t as James Talarico, I believe it is my duty to say something about it. James Talarico is now the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate from Texas, having defeated Jasmine Crockett in the 2026 primary. He has discovered a political instrument more powerful than a Super PAC, more versatile than a focus group, and considerably harder to interview: Jesus Christ. After generations of right-wing Protestant pastors hijacking the message of Jesus and turning him into...

Attorney General Ken Paxton says he has successfully shut down a Houston “birth tourism” center following his lawsuit against the operation. De’Ai Postpartum Care Center was accused of operating an illegal scheme that imported foreign nationals to give birth for U.S. citizenship. The center catered to Chinese nationals, communicating with clients through Chinese social media and websites. It claimed responsibility for 1,000+ American-born babies. The operation went beyond providing its four residential locations. It “coached foreign nationals on how to evade immigration restrictions, including advising women to apply for visas ‘before pregnancy’ to avoid detection,” according to the Office of...

MAGA, Inc., the super PAC linked to President Donald Trump, has made its first major midterm buy with $10 million in ad spending to support Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his Senate race, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission. Paxton and Democrat state Rep. James Talarico are locked in a tight race in which polls continually show the two candidates neck and neck. The race is one of roughly a dozen that will determine if the GOP holds its Senate majority in the midterms. The $10 million will go toward digital and TV ads...

EXCLUSIVE: Texas Senate candidate James Talarico — who has spent millions in ads calling Republican Ken Paxton "the most corrupt politician in Texas" — is now facing his own "blatant corruption" allegation tied to a progressive consulting firm that raked in over $5 million in state contracts while he sat on the committee overseeing those very contracts. Talarico drew an $83,333 annual salary from MAYA Consulting, a DEI-focused firm that landed two Texas Education Agency contracts totaling more than $5.2 million between 2021 and 2022. The contracts were specifically tied to COVID-19 learning loss — the same priority Talarico was...

For weeks, Republicans have accused Texas State Rep. James Talarico (D-50th District) of faking a rightward shift on transgender issues to win a statewide race. Now the public doesn’t have to take our word for it. Why? His own pastor just confirmed it.An undercover journalist for the Daily Wire caught Rev. Babs Miller, a “minister” at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, Talarico's longtime “church,” on hidden camera discussing exactly what we’ve suspected all along.Talarico has drawn Republican criticism for his professed love for “trans children,” claiming that there are seven genders, and that "God is non-binary."Miller knows who Talarico...

James Talarico's Minister admits Talarico is COVERING UP his Left-wing views to trick Texans into voting for him: "I can guarantee you that once he gets elected, he'll change his tune back to where he was."

A Texas Democratic operative said the quiet part out loud — on video. Sky McAdams, organizing manager for Texas Majority PAC, described a $25 stipend as a workaround the group is using to boost support for Democrats like U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, among others. “We are paying people $25 to attend a one-hour Zoom class to learn why voting is important and why the Republicans are causing all of these bad things,” McAdams said in undercover video obtained by Townhall. “So it’s like a roundabout way of paying people for their votes, essentially.” Townhall posted the clip Wednesday morning.

Much has been made about Texas U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico’s version, or perversion, of “Christianity.”The Democrat nominee has called St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin home since he was two years old, he says. It has been led for 35 years by Rev. Jim Rigby, whom Talarico calls a “mentor.” Rev. Babs Miller is “Minister to the Parish,” according to the progressive church’s website. So, one might conclude Miller knows a thing or two about St. Andrews’ congregants and their beliefs.“We still have people in this church who wish that the young man had not just nicked his ear,...

Senate Democratic nominee James Talarico appears ready to bring a touch of Trotsky to Texas. In a video from a climate forum, Talarico is shown declaring capitalism an "oppressive system" linked with White supremacy and saying that it must be "dismantled" to achieve a better world. It is reminiscent of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, who denounced the "fundamental evil of the capitalist system" and called on citizens to free themselves from its oppression. The Democratic Socialists of America and radical sites have long called "to dismantle the capitalist state." As a state representative, Talarico addressed the 2020 climate conference by...

Indivisible Dallas, which hosted an event for state Rep. James Talarico (D-District 50), the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, is helping organize a march against the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention as part of a coalition whose promotional materials feature the logos of communist and socialist organizations. Indivisible Dallas hosted a virtual forum titled “Meet The Candidate with James Talarico” on January 15. “In this electrifying Texas primary race, join Indivisible Dallas and Indivisible groups all across Texas in a virtual conversation with U.S. Senate candidate: TX STATE REP. JAMES TALARICO,” the event page stated. “Folks will have the opportunity...

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) said she will focus on “campaigning down ballot” in Texas, suggesting that she won’t campaign with Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico after he defeated her in the party’s primary. “We’ve seen the turnout that you can produce. Talarico might very well need that magnetism. Will you campaign with him?” CNN’s Laura Coates asked the congresswoman on Thursday. “I will be campaigning down ballot,” Crockett said. “Because when we’re looking at a state like Texas, we’ve tried this, where we’ve got one amazing candidate that’s running at the top of the ticket,” Crockett said, when asked why...

James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, once described parents who refused to acknowledge their children’s gender identity as potentially engaging in "abusive" behavior. "I think there are some folks that would think that if you deny your child's gender identity, that's incredibly harmful. And whether or not we label it with the term abuse, it's abusive for sure," Talarico said while speaking at a committee hearing in the Texas Legislature in 2019. Talarico’s resurfaced comments add to a growing pile of past remarks that cut against his efforts to paint himself as a moderate on issues...

The longtime pastor of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico was recently caught on camera promoting an "inclusive" translation of the Bible that strips the text of gendered language for God, including Jesus' titles as Lord and Son of God. The Rev. Jim Rigby, who has pastored St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) near Austin, Texas, for more than 35 years, discussed The Inclusive Bible with an undercover journalist posing as a prospective new church member, according to video recorded in August and first reported by The Daily Caller. Noting the church typically provides new members with a copy of The...

GOP super PACs have committed more than $40 million to the race over the last week, as the attorney general faces a tight race with Democrat James Talarico. DALLAS — Texas Republican Ken Paxton is getting a major infusion of financial help in his Senate battle with Democrat James Talarico.A new super PAC linked to Senate Republican leadership has purchased at least $32 million in airtime to boost the controversial Republican attorney general, according to the tracking service AdImpact. And President Donald Trump’s super PAC threw $10 million into the race last week.The wave of GOP spending comes as a...