Republicans are intensifying their attacks on James Talarico ahead of this week’s convention in Dallas, rolling out a series of ads and national media broadsides that cast the Austin Democrat as culturally and ideologically out of step with Texas.
Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Senate GOP nominee, fired the latest shot, releasing an ad Tuesday built around Mr. Talarico’s past comments about his religious views.
“In the beginning, God was nonbinary, and he wasn’t a Christian, and God said, ‘Let there be six genders, and there were,’” a Talarico lookalike says in the spot, shown writing with a crayon in “The King James Talarico Bible.” “Then God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son, who is a radical feminist and never asked people to worship Him.”
He adds, “Look, I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity.”
The race between Mr. Paxton and Mr. Talarico has become a key front in the national fight for control of the Senate, drawing heavy investment from both parties as Republicans prepare for a two‑day convention organized by President Trump to energize voters ahead of the midterms. Texas has not elected a Democrat statewide in three decades.
Against that backdrop, Mr. Talarico has proved more than formidable, leaning on his Christian faith to blunt cultural attacks, frame his policy ideas as moral obligations, and draw a contrast with Mr. Paxton’s personal and political baggage.
The Paxton spot comes on the heels of a MAGA Inc. ad released over the weekend that accuses Mr. Talarico of voting to make it easier to raise property taxes, supporting a “4 trillion dollar tax hike” and backing a “radical healthcare plan” that the group says could close rural hospitals and saddle Texans with “thousands in new taxes.”
The ad contrasts that with Mr. Paxton’s support for tax cuts and his proposal to let people deduct medical expenses and the down payment on their home. “When it comes to taxes, Ken Paxton’s the better choice,” the narrator says.
Republicans are amplifying the message beyond Texas.
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, said conservatives cannot sit on the sidelines in Texas because the hard left hates President Trump and is “going to crawl over broken glass to come in and vote.”
Mr. Cruz said Tuesday on Fox News, “Talarico is a very talented candidate, but he’s an extreme candidate. He would make a fantastic Senate candidate in California, but in Texas, I mean, this is a guy who says God is nonbinary. This is a guy who says there’s six genders. Damned if I know what all six of them are, but he says there’s six.”
Those attacks are also telegraphing what’s likely to unfold at the Republican convention Wednesday and Thursday in Dallas, where party leaders and activists are expected to use the gathering as a high‑profile stage to keep up the pressure on Mr. Talarico and rally donors and ground troops behind Mr. Paxton in the final stretch before November.
The stepped‑up messaging comes as recent polling shows the race remains competitive, with Mr. Paxton and Mr. Talarico running close and a sizable share of voters still forming their impressions of the Democrat — a dynamic that helps explain the GOP’s urgency heading into the fall.
Texas has not elected a Democrat statewide since 1994, underscoring how difficult it is for any Democrat to break through in a state where Republicans have held every statewide office ever since.
As Republicans gather in Dallas, Mr. Talarico is charting a different course, organizing a “Love Thy Neighbor Grocery Drive” to help families struggling to make ends meet.
“Billionaire mega-donors and their puppet politicians are gathering at the Republican National Convention in Dallas on September 9 to clink champagne glasses and toast their own corruption,” the Talarico invite says. “They’re paying $20,000 for entry to a Billionaire Ball celebrating corrupt tariffs, billionaire tax breaks, and a new forever war that are all driving grocery costs through the roof.”
The invitation adds, “Team Talarico is doing something different. We’re bringing Republicans, Democrats, and Independents together to do what we do best: take care of our neighbors.”
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