What Talarico, Paxton are saying about each other in the Texas Senate race now that it's a toss up
Political analysts have shifted their focus to the Texas Senate race after weeks of polls showing that Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton are neck and neck.
The highly regarded Cook Political Report has moved the contest from Lean Republican to Toss-Up. The latest Real Clear Politics average of polls between June 3 and August 10 shows Talarico ahead of Paxton by 1.2 percentage points, 46% to 44.8%.
In a post on the social media platform X, Paxton told followers, "We need your help," urging people to go to his website "to defeat Socialist James Talarico and SAVE Texas."
In a post on X earlier last week, Talarico's campaign commented after Fox News shifted the race to a toss-up. We're a couple of weeks away from Labor Day weekend, when analysts say people typically start to focus on the elections.
Talarico has been spending millions of dollars running ads on TV for weeks now, and the Austin state lawmaker has been introducing himself. His latest ad features his grandfather, a Baptist preacher, and him sitting on a front porch and talking about God and Talarico's position on affordability. On social media, Talarico blasts Paxton on affordability, citing a recent report showing the Attorney General owns 15 homes worth $9 million dollars, while on an annual government salary of $153,000.
Also on X, Talarico is showing a video of Paxton taking someone else's $1,000 pen from the Collin County courthouse 14 years ago. Paxton returned the pen after being questioned about it, and said it was a mistake, while Talarico accused Paxton of stealing it. The pen's owner endorsed Talarico.
Paxton has not been airing ads on TV but has said that will change once he raises more money.
On X, Paxton's new ad says Talarico is willing to "sacrifice children at the altar of the trans movement" and calls him "too weird and too radical for Texas." The Paxton campaign is also criticizing Talarico for his vote as a state lawmaker against a bill to keep men out of women's sports.
Paxton has also slammed Talarico, accusing him of trying to end the state's oil and gas industry, which he says generates $385 billion into the state's economy. In 2021, state legislative records show that Talarico filed a bill that would have required statewide greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced to 50 percent below the 1990 levels by 2030 and to 90 percent below the 1990 level by 2050.
Talarico's bill died in committee.
In an interview with CBS News Texas, Texas Woman's University political science professor Parker Hevron spoke about the candidates' messaging. Regarding Talarico's TV ads, which also show him driving pickup trucks, Hevron said his campaign is trying to do a couple of things.
"Obviously, the trucks, you can never have enough trucks, you can never have enough grandpas on the front porch, so I think he's trying to signal to Texans, 'I am one of you,'" said Hevron. "But I do think what he's trying to do there is counter a bit of this Paxton narrative that Talarico is not a masculine kind of Texas candidate. You've heard Paxton talk about how Talarico is a vegan and calls him 'Tofu Talarico,' and Talarico responded, 'I've been eating barbecue since before your first indictment.' So, some of these things are patently false, but what I think the Paxton campaign is very consciously trying to do is to cast Talarico as an outsider."
Hevron said Talarico's social media ads are targeting Paxton's record.
"The other thing Talarico is trying to do in his ads is try and tie some of Paxton's corruption, which again, at this point, is very well documented. He had people in his own party voting to impeach him in the Texas legislature - tying Paxton's corruption to some kind of populist economic policies that seem to be playing pretty well right now nationwide."
Early voting starts Monday, October 19, and runs through Friday, October 30. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. The final day to register to vote is Monday, October 5.
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