Ken Paxton has spent much of the Texas Senate campaign telling voters what he thinks is wrong with James Talarico.
Talarico has spent more time telling them what he wants to do in Washington.
Both pitches come with a promise and a warning.
Paxton points to Texas’ economic growth and conservative values, saying Democrats could put both at risk. Talarico says he would make life more affordable for working Texans while warning that billionaires and powerful interests have gained too much influence.
Now, with the election two months away, Talarico is going harder at Paxton just as Republicans prepare to give the attorney general a lift at their convention-style rally this week in Dallas.
The event, headlined by President Donald Trump, comes as Paxton faces questions about his fundraising and campaign tactics – and criticism from former rival John Cornyn, who branded him “lazy.”
During a podcast conversation with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick released Wednesday, Trump said Paxton would be a major focus of the convention.
“We’ve got to get him elected” over “this weirdo, this Freako,” Trump said.
Talarico has dismissed the name-calling and said he will make appearances around Dallas during the convention, pushing his proposals on housing, health care, the border, jobs and the economy.
Paxton has offered fewer new policies while trashing Talarico over gender, religion and other issues Republicans believe could cost him votes.
Trump and other Republicans are expected to pile on the Democratic state representative at the convention.
“What’s the over-under, 100?” asked GOP consultant Vinny Minchillo, who has worked for Trump’s campaigns, predicting how often speakers will invoke Talarico. “You’re going to hear his name a lot.”
Talarico entered the summer with a $21.5 million-to-$1.8 million cash-on-hand advantage and largely had the airwaves to himself, running glowing biographical ads.
“Paxton and his team know they have not done enough,” Minchillo said. “They are about to let the hounds out.”
Paxton sounded an urgent note at a recent Parker County rally. “We’ve only got one Texas,” he said. “If we lose our one Texas, there’s nowhere else to go.”
A Welcome to Dallas video plays in Victory Plaza ahead of the Republican Party’s convention-style rally opening Wednesday at the American Airlines Center. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News)
Talarico stepped up his response last week, airing his first negative TV spot, calling Paxton corrupt and unfit for office.
Talarico told The Dallas Morning News that as Republicans hang out with mega-donors at the convention, he will be traveling across North Texas and talking about “how we can get this economy back on track.”
Partisan push
Paxton, a veteran of statewide campaigns, has spent much of his political career dogged by legal and ethical problems, including his 2023 impeachment by House Republicans and acquittal in the Senate. He remains a favorite of MAGA conservatives but his bruising primary against Cornyn drained his financial resources and slowed his campaign against Talarico.
Cornyn has continued to knock Paxton, saying he’s a “poor campaigner” who is “lazy and doesn’t raise money.”
Paxton responded that he was working 18-hour days. “John Cornyn doesn’t know my schedule,” he said.
Attorney General Ken Paxton before a campaign rally Aug. 4 at Matt’s Rancho Martinez restaurant in Allen. (Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News)
Democratic voters, meanwhile, have turned out in force this year, increasing the pressure on Republicans to mobilize their own.
Paxton has sought to do that, portraying Talarico as a “deceiver,” mocking him as “Six-gender Jimmy” and denouncing his 2021 remark that “God is nonbinary.”
Talarico now says there are “two sexes, men and women” and that his comment about God meant that God cannot be defined by human categories.
Veteran GOP strategist Dave Carney said Republicans have plenty more to tell voters about what they see as Talarico’s support for boys playing in girls’ sports, open borders and high taxes.
“You need to educate them on his positions,” Carney said. “Might it scare some people? Sure.”
Paxton has given voters less to chew on about his own plans. He has made curbing voter fraud a priority and released an economic plan, but spent only a few minutes discussing it at its unveiling before turning to Talarico.
Crossover challenge
Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico (left) and Dallas businessman Mark Cuban at a panel discussion Aug. 29 in Fort Worth. (Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News)
Talarico, in his first statewide campaign, is trying to build a coalition of Democrats, independents and Republicans, taking aim at the influence of billionaires and promising to put working people first.
He has packaged his proposals under the banner of the “New American Dream,” promising less expensive housing and healthcare, more jobs in emerging industries and greater government accountability.
“This is not a politics of division” but of unity, friendship and love, he said of his plan. “This new kind of politics can change our state. It can change our country.”
Talarico needs strong Democratic turnout and a sizable share of independents and crossover Republicans to break the party’s three-decade losing streak in statewide races.
He also must unite Democrats after a divisive primary against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas. Crockett endorsed him the next day but said she would focus on down-ballot candidates.
Talarico has pledged $25 million for Black voter outreach and last week announced a Black voter engagement team.
Paxton has not yet challenged Talarico on television, but national Republicans and allied groups are expected to spend heavily against him.
Ray Washburne, a former national finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and a leader of the Dallas Host Committee helping stage the convention, expressed confidence in Paxton’s ability to finance his fall campaign.
“Ken will be able to raise the money,” Washburne told The News and NBC5 in a joint interview. “And now the summer’s over, and people are looking at the alternative, and they’re coming in.”
Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who lost a Senate race to Cornyn in 2002, said Talarico should not let Republicans pull him away from his economic message.
“He needs to stay focused on what’s important, and that’s the economy,” Kirk said. “They’re going to try to drag him into that swamp, and if I was him, I just wouldn’t go in there with them.”
For all the back-and-forth, the candidates still have no debate scheduled. Talarico has accepted three televised invitations. Paxton has said he’ll debate but has yet to agree to one.
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This article originally published at Paxton, Talarico Senate fight moves to Dallas convention.