On Wednesday, James Talarico launched his “The People vs. Ken Paxton Tour” in Houston.
DALLAS — In his Tuesday night acceptance speech, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called James Talarico, “Tofu Talarico” and “James Tala-freako” among several other nicknames his campaign has coined for his Democratic opponent in the race for the U.S. Senate.
At a Wednesday night rally in Houston, Talarico responded with “Talafreako” t-shirts for sale on his campaign website and with a few political barbs of his own.
“I’ve been eating BBQ since Ken Paxton’s first indictment,” Talarico said at the first stop on his ‘The People vs. Ken Paxton Tour.’
“I have a legislative record,” Talarico said of his four terms in the Texas House of Representatives. “Ken Paxton has a criminal record.”
“Ken Paxton is the most corrupt politician in America, and he belongs nowhere close to the United States Senate,” Talarico said in his first campaign event after Paxton soundly defeated incumbent John Cornyn for the Republican nomination.
“I think it’s going to be as nasty as we have seen in Texas and one of the nastiest races in the country,” said SMU political science professor and author Matthew Wilson, PhD. Wilson calls the race a “perfect storm” for Democrats, citing President Trump’s low approval ratings, Ken Paxton’s legal issues, including his impeachment by the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives in 2023, and the flood of money expected from Democrat donors across the U.S.
“So you put all of that together, and I think it gives Democrats their best opportunity in decades to actually win a statewide election in Texas,” Wilson said.
In 2018, Ted Cruz beat Beto O’Rourke in their Senate race by just 2.5 percent. Tuesday night, Paxton pitched the 2026 battle this way.
“Tonight is the beginning of the fight to preserve every value we hold dear. The future of America and Texas is on the line. Texas will be the radical left’s number one priority, but there’s one thing I know about Texans is that we’re not going to let them take it,” Paxton said in his acceptance speech.
“The only truth out of all of those lies is that we are a threat,” Talarico responded Wednesday night. “We’re a threat to their corrupt system.”
“This is no just a political battle, this is a spiritual battle between selfishness and service, between greed and greatness,” Talarico said.
Ken Paxton’s campaign tour hasn’t yet been announced. Over the next four days, Talarico takes his message to Nacogdoches, San Antonio, Leander, and then Plano on June 1st.