Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico being interviewed Saturday after a news conference at a gas station in Carrollton.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – National Democrats are jumping into the Texas Senate race ad wars, seeking to boost nominee James Talarico amid an onslaught of Republican attacks.
Senate Majority PAC, aligned with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced a new digital spot Tuesday targeting Talarico’s opponent, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton on Monday after a forum sponsored by the United States Hispanic Business Council in Fort Worth.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Meanwhile, Fox News agreed Tuesday to host a debate between Talarico and Paxton after the Democrat offered to meet on what he called friendly turf for Paxton.
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Paxton has not yet agreed to the debate, and his campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Talarico has called for several debates as the race grows heated just weeks before early voting starts.
“Ken Paxton is running from the fight. And that sounds like low-T behavior to me,” Talarico said last week.
The new Talarico ad released by a Senate Majority PAC affiliate criticizes a plea deal prosecutors in Paxton’s office struck with Waco attorney Adam Hoffman, who was accused of sexually abusing a child for years.
“Adam Hoffman admitted to sexually abusing a child. He should’ve spent the rest of his life in prison,” the ad’s narrator says. “But Ken Paxton offered him a sweetheart deal.”
Paxton defeated longtime Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican runoff in May, winning by a significant margin after a late endorsement by President Donald Trump.
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Cornyn made Paxton’s handling of the Hoffman case a key part of his closing campaign message.
Paxton’s office took over the Hoffman prosecution after the McLennan County district attorney’s office cited a conflict. The initial result was a mistrial after jurors deadlocked.
Prosecutors reached the plea agreement after the victim declined to testify again. A judge sentenced Hoffman to 60 days in jail on two misdemeanors and he served about half that time.
Paxton has defended his handling of the case, saying he didn’t want to force the victim to testify again.
“We wanted to retry it and we decided . . . it’s more important to make sure that this kid is protected than to get the verdict that we actually want,” Paxton said Monday at a United States Hispanic Business Council forum.
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Hoffman’s attorney, Gerry Morris of Austin, said earlier this year the case was tried well and defended the plea agreement as appropriate given weaknesses on both sides and the likelihood of another deadlocked jury.
The ad released Tuesday highlights Morris’ past representation of Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, whose relationship with Paxton helped trigger his 2023 impeachment in the GOP-led Texas House.
Paxton was acquitted by the Senate. Morris has rejected accusations his representation of Paul had any influence on the Hoffman case.
Republicans have been pouring money into the Texas Senate race, funding attack ads such as one calling Talarico “weird” for previous commentary on transgender issues and Christianity.
Talarico has said those spots are an attempt to distract voters from Paxton’s shortcomings and issues such as inflation.
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The deluge of Republican spending has prompted questions about whether Democrats will respond in kind. They devoted significant resources in 2024 to former Dallas Rep. Colin Allred’s unsuccessful campaign to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
Senate Majority PAC did not say how much it’s putting behind the new digital ad or whether it will follow with a broader television campaign.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said last week the organization is targeting Texas and five other Republican-held Senate seats but did not commit to a specific investment in the state.