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A longtime aide to Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has joined Democrat James Talarico’s Senate campaign as he tries to defeat Republican nominee Ken Paxton in Texas. Jacob Smith, who spent five years working for Cornyn as a deputy legislative director and policy adviser, is now serving as Talarico’s deputy policy director, according to NOTUS. “I’ve worked for Republicans like Senator Cornyn my entire career, but this year I’m proud to be joining James Talarico’s campaign,” Smith said in a statement released by the campaign. Smith said Talarico focuses on issues affecting working Texans rather than partisan politics and argued the...

This video provides an analysis of the 2026 Texas elections, focusing on why Republicans remain the favorites to win both the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races, despite the state's shifting demographics. U.S. Senate Race (0:57 - 8:24) Candidates: The race features Republican Ken Paxton versus Democrat James Talerico. The Forecast: While some polls show a tight race, the video argues these often underestimate Republican strength (as seen in past election results). Forecast models currently give Ken Paxton a significant advantage (79.6%) with a projected average win of 5.4%. Historical Context: Republicans have maintained dominance in Texas Senate elections since 1990,...

Democrat U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico now says he does not support gender mutilation surgery for minors—but when Texas lawmakers voted to prohibit the procedures, Talarico voted no.Talarico voted against Senate Bill 14, legislation prohibiting physicians from performing gender-mutilation surgeries on minors as well as prescribing sterilizing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for the purpose of changing a child’s biological sex. The measure was ultimately approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.Talarico’s legislative record also includes another vote involving insurance coverage for gender-mutilation procedures and the consequences of those treatments. In 2025, Talarico voted against...

Leftist outlet MS NOW aired a segment featuring three Texas women who identified themselves as Republicans and vowed to cross over for James Talarico — but records show at least some of them have voted in Democratic primaries and donated to liberal candidates and causes. Talarico, who has sparked backlash for his fringe views on Christianity, affection for transgender children, and disdain for the American flag, is banking on Republican crossover support to become the first Texas Democrat elected statewide in decades. “Republicans for Talarico is as real as the six genders that Talarico claims exist, but has yet to...

The Democrat Senate nominee said the experience was part of the religious tradition that eventually led him into politics. Democrat U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico says the church he grew up in once housed illegal aliens who were facing deportation by federal immigration authorities. The comments, first reported by Fox News, came during a 2023 appearance by Talarico on Texas Impact’s Weekly Witness podcast. Asked how his faith influenced his political career, Talarico pointed to a history of progressive activism at his church. “Our church was really active in LGBTQ rights in the ’90s. We caught some attention by letting...

Three years can be a long time in Texas politics. Republicans who once stood on opposite sides of one of the party’s most bitter battles are now sharing stages, exchanging embraces, and urging voters to unite behind Attorney General Ken Paxton in November. The display has unfolded during Paxton’s campaign tour this week, where several lawmakers with a history of conflict with the Republican senate nominee have appeared alongside him and encouraged voters to put past disagreements aside. The most prominent example came in Allen, where State Rep. Jeff Leach introduced Paxton before a packed crowd and embraced him as...

Democrat James Talarico leads Republican Ken Paxton by five percentage points in a survey of likely Texas voters released Tuesday, marking a shift from earlier polling that showed the attorney general narrowly ahead or tied in the U.S. Senate contest. Discover more Legislative Branch Government Voter registration services Texas Public Opinion Research found Talarico leading Paxton, 45 percent to 40 percent, “marking the Austin state representative’s largest lead in any public poll taken during the general election period,” the Texas Tribune reported. The group surveyed 1,048 likely voters from July 15 through July 17. The poll has a margin of...

Senate hopeful James Talarico is on the defensive after remarks resurfaced in which he lavished praise on Texas drag queens as "some of the best" in the country. Talarico, the Democrats' nominee in Texas’ hotly contested Senate race, made the comment in May 2023 while criticizing a bill in the state legislature banning "sexually oriented performances" on public property and in the presence of minors — a measure that would have likely restricted some drag shows. He voted "present" on the legislation at the urging of the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus after language explicitly referencing drag performers was stripped from...

It’s been a tough week for Democrat U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico on the sexual abuse front, who is now battling with the public learning that his largest financial backer is listed in the Epstein files, is facing condemnation from an abuse victim’s family for lying, and is refusing to condemn a political ally who consorts with a sexual predator. Earlier today, it was revealed that Talarico had been receiving millions from billionaire Epstein-associated Reid Hoffman. Hoffman was featured prominently in the Epstein files for making trips to Jeffrey Epstein’s island and to other Epstein residences, as well as exchanging...

The U.S. Senate campaign for state Rep. James Talarico says the Democratic nominee raised $30 million in the last three months, tripling the fundraising haul announced by his opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton.The Talarico campaign announced it has taken in over $30 million since April, thanks to donations from “over 780,000 individuals” who donated to the campaign. “We’re uniting Texans onto one team to take on this broken, corrupt political system,” the campaign shared in a social media post on Wednesday.According to a campaign statement, the second-quarter total is the “largest amount ever raised by a U.S. Senate candidate in...

State Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, raised a staggering $30 million from April through June, his campaign announced Wednesday — more than triple the amount brought in by his Republican opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton. The haul is a record total for a U.S. Senate candidate in the second quarter of an election year, Talarico’s campaign said, noting he has now raised more than $70 million from over 1.5 million donations, including 780,000 individual contributors, since launching his bid in September. “I’m honored to stand alongside more than 780,000 neighbors who are tired of being divided into...

Paxton 49, Talarico 47

DALLAS — Federal prosecutors have charged 13 people in North Texas as part of a sweeping nationwide healthcare fraud crackdown involving billions of dollars in false claims. The crackdown was a coordinated effort that included more than 450 defendants nationwide, U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said in a news release. Investigators say the schemes involve more than $6.5 billion in fraudulent claims and, in some cases, led to serious patient harm. In North Texas alone, prosecutors say the cases involve more than $365 million in fraudulent billing, targeting taxpayer-funded programs like Medicare and TRICARE. Authorities also seized more than $35 million...

Paxton 43, Talarico 42

MAGA Republican Ken Paxton 45 to Whackadoodle Democrat James Talarico 43

The Democratic candidate in the Texas Senate race has a slight edge over his Republican opponent in a new poll released Friday. Forty-seven percent of likely general election voters in the state backed state Rep. James Talarico (D) in the poll from Texas Public Opinion Research, compared with 44 percent for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R). Nearly a third of the respondents who voted for Cornyn in the runoff indicated in the poll that they will support the Democratic nominee in the November election. A plurality — 44 percent — of these voters said they will now choose Paxton,...

Attorney General Ken Paxton says he's suing the city of Denton over gender-neutral changing rooms being available at a June Pride event at one of the city's public pools. The June 7 event, called "Big Gay Swim Day," was organized by two nonprofit groups – PRIDENTON and OUTreach Denton, and is set to be held at the Quakertown Civic Center. The city owns the center, which has a public-access swimming pool and sex-specific multiple-occupancy changing rooms. The event is advertised as open to the general public of all ages, and organizers have announced that gender-neutral changing rooms will be available...

Saturday's episode of The Weekend: Primetime on MS NOW pretended to present a balanced discussion between a Republican and a Democrat strategist in cowboy hats about the Texas Senate race between James Talarico and Ken Paxton. Co-host Elise Jordan introduced one of the guests this way: “Joining us now is Mark McKinnon, former advisor to George W. Bush and John McCain… Mark, you have a long career advising Republicans in Texas.” In reality, McKinnon’s Republican credentials are extremely thin and dated. His last significant Republican work was on John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, which he quit because he wanted Barack...

I recently heard from a friend that Talarico's leftist church - the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas -- told its parishners to throw away their Bibles and purchase the "Inclusive Bible" by the Priests for Equality, which was quite an odd translation of the Bible. I first confirmed Talarico preached there: https://pres-outlook.org/2026/03/austin-seminary-student-james-talarico-wins-democratic-u-s-senate-primary/ I then confirmed it uses the Inclusive Bible: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/St--Andrew-s-News-for-July-26-to-August-1--2024.html?soid=1112060411088&aid=MNn8GrAF534 I then looked up that "bible" and whoa, is it weird: I flipped through it just briefly: Adam is an "it" the "first creature" until Eve is created, the first human. Marriage is not between a "man...

Yes, if your school has banned pornography for kids don't worry, Talarico stocks it in his church's library right between Left Behind Kids and Jesus Calling. Oh, and Talarico was raised in this church, has preached there several times, and remains closely associated with it.