Talented James Talarico silences conspiracy theorists in fascinating Senate race in Texas

When he walked into the television studio on Wednesday night, James Talarico was looking fairly hearty – for a ghost. Over the course of 10 maddening days, the whereabouts and wellbeing of the Democratic candidate for the Texas senate had become the stuff of wild conspiracy theory. The simple explanation, forwarded by his communications team was that, like Frank Sinatra, he had a cold. The Maga wing of the Republican movement had different ideas, varying from some class of nervous breakdown to an imminent scandal too dark for contemplation to a classic case of the jitters.“Jimmy appears to be having a full-blown mental Tala-freak-out on the national stage,” ventured his opponent, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, on his social media platform six days ago. “My campaign has a simple request: proof of life.”White House policy deputy chief Stephen Miller, Elon Musk and Maga influencer Laura Loomer soon chipped in with equally mendacious posts.READ MORETalarico resumed his campaign at the weekend, and his ebullient health was confirmed when he participated in a CNN/Jubilee Town Hall in Fort Worth on Wednesday evening. The forum involved the candidate taking questions from members of the public representing Democratic, Republican and Independent factions of the Texas electorate. Paxton has repeatedly ducked and avoided Talarico’s persistent invitations, or dares, to engage in the kind of live debate formats that are taking place in other toss-up states such as Maine, Georgia and Iowa. When Talarico gave his answer to the very first question – “are you okay?” – from moderator Erin Burnett, it became clear Paxton’s decision to avoid a verbal rumble with Talarico was a smart move.“I think the responsible thing to do when you get something like the flu is to stay at home and not get other people sick,” Talarico said by way of accounting for his absence.“And I was able to work remotely from home. But you are right. That decision to stay home for a week sent my opponent and his conspiracy theorists spiralling. I opened up social media to learn that I had apparently dropped out of the race. That I had flown to a mental hospital in Ohio. That I had died. This is crazy. These false claims got millions of views online. And this is an example of what I call the rage economy. Conspiracy theorists can post anything they want on the internet. They get clicks. The billionaires who own these platforms get rich. We all get angry. And nobody’s life gets any better. Conspiracy theories don’t put food on the table. They don’t put gas in the tank. They don’t improve our country. So, I am going to stay focused on the issues tonight.”James Talarico with fans at a music festival in Austin, Texas, last week. Photograph: Gary Miller/Getty Images The response offered a neat mirror into why Talarico (37) has come to be regarded as a generational, incandescent political talent. He belongs to none of the traditional American political archetypes. Since 2018, having been elected to the Texas state house at the age of 29, he has built a formidable body of state legislative work, introducing 18 Bills that became law before emerging as a national voice. He draws on his life experience as an eighth-generation Texan, a state schoolteacher and pastor as he seeks the seat that will ultimately define whether this autumn surge by Democratic candidates signals a genuine desire for change among Americans or is a midterm mirage in the Lone Star state.Few candidates have been impugned as savagely by the Republican administration as Talarico. President Donald Trump routinely refers to him as “Tala-freako”. This week, vice-president JD Vance got in on the act, issuing this slur on the Texan:“He [Talarico] was asked what he loves in life besides his family and friends and he responded, without skipping a beat, trans children. Now you gotta wonder what the internet search history of a man like that looks like. I don’t want to know – and you don’t either.”Vance was referring to a remark Talarico made several years ago in an interview.“I love the trans children who showed up yesterday at the state capital to advocate for their humanity,” Talarico said then.On Wednesday night, he answered questions from both Democrats and Republican voters who, in the disarmingly earnest way of the American political theatre, stepped under the bright lights to discuss the issues of greatest concern to them. The topics ranged from abortion to education to funding for Ukraine to Trump’s Save America Act to God. In each case, it was clear Talarico’s presence – attentive, always respectful and singularly beatific in aspect – at the very least convinced them they had been heard.Donald Trump with Ken Paxton at a campaign rally in San Antonio, Texas, last week. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images He had one Republican voter, a retired military man who wanted to know his stance on the voter ID issue, applauding his answer before their four-minute allotted conversation had ended. On one of the remarks that the Republicans like to goad him about – that God is non-binary – Talarico had this to say.“When I said that I was being provocative and I want to admit that and come clean about that. But I think what I was saying was not controversial theologically. The idea that we can’t define God using human categories. Not only did I say that but the late Charlie Kirk said that. The late Pope Benedict said that.”To a Jewish Democrat concerned about his views on Israel during a period of escalating anti-Semitism, he reminded her he had studied biblical Hebrew as part of his seminarian training and made it clear that his criticisms were narrowed to the government of Binyamin Netanyahu.Did any of this matter? How many households in Texas counties far beyond the metropolises tune into CNN news in this age of partisan, entrenched media warfare? What did Paxton have to gain by dedicating one of the 22 remaining campaign nights to allowing Texans to compare his communicative limitations with those of Talarico? Trump has been blitzing the state with personal appearances and what has long been marked as a staggeringly expensive regional election is about to become more so. [ Emerging Democrat star Jon Ossoff has become a chief thorn in Trump’s sideOpens in new window ]Spending for Paxton – favoured by Trump over long-standing Republican senatorial stalwart John Cornyn despite myriad flaws and scandals – has just tipped over the $500 million (€445 million) mark. Regional network television spending is in for a further bonanza as the Republicans seek to extend a vice-grip on the Texas senate seats they have held since 1994.It just might work. Talarico has had a profile dating back to his long, dramatic primary election race against Texas representative Jasmine Crockett, whom he defeated in March. Paxton, who finally defeated Cornyn after Trump’s endorsement before a “run-off” election in May, has been playing catch-up. His attempts to catch up have involved avoiding any direct debates with his opponent. But he has the weight of the Texas party machine – and the president – behind him.[ ‘A lot of people are losing hope’: A state Trump turned red now appears more dividedOpens in new window ]Still, the most remarkable aspect of the night was that as the 90-minute event came to a close, Talarico reminded the audience he hadn’t mentioned “my opponent” just once. You could sense a penny drop: Paxton had been all but forgotten. Then Talarico quietly skewered Paxton, telling voters he has earned 27 million dollars since entering elected office, and owns 15 homes when many Texans are struggling to own one.Three new polls illustrate just how finely this fascinating race is poised. The Texas Political Project has Talarico ahead by 3 percentage points among likely voters (50 to 47). Marist University has the Democrat ahead by just two points. A new Recon/MR/Siena poll has Talarico four points ahead, narrowing since September. It’s sufficiently narrow for the Republicans to believe that with a rush and a push, the land that they stand on is still theirs. Who knows, they might be right. They’ve been right throughout the century. Talarico is attempting to push against three decades of a formidable Republican institution.[ Why can’t Saudi Arabia stop the Houthi attacks?Opens in new window ]But irrespective of the result, it is clear Texas has unearthed another generational political talent. He was sensational – and over the autumn flu.