Updated Oct. 28, 2026, 11:01 a.m. MT
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico rolled up his sleeves and made tamales during a campaign stop in El Paso.
Talarico visited Gussie’s Tamales in Central El Paso on Oct. 26, one of the city’s best-known tamale bakeries, ahead of his rally at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Sporting an apron and gloves, Talarico joined employees in preparing tamales and posed for photos with supporters. The visit was featured in a video shared on Talarico’s campaign social media pages.
Rodolpho “Rudy” Gonzalez, co-owner of Gussie’s Tamales, said Talarico shared a humorous story from his younger years while learning how to make tamales.
“While spreading the masa onto the corn husks, he shared a funny story about how he used to do drywall work when he was younger,” Gonzalez said. “He mentioned that the motion of embarrando the masa onto the husks felt surprisingly familiar because of his experience spreading drywall compound.”
Talarico didn’t leave empty-handed, either.
Gonzalez said the candidate purchased a dozen red chile pork tamales to take on the road.
“It was a pleasure having him visit, sharing a little of our family tradition, and seeing him get hands-on with the tamale-making process,” Gonzalez said.
Ken Paxton to visit El Paso on Sunday
Talarico’s Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, is also scheduled to visit the Sun City on Sunday, Nov. 1, as both candidates make their final campaign pushes ahead of Election Day.
Paxton’s campaign is coming to El Paso as part of its “Come and Take It” tour at the Orca Event Venue, 11323 Rojas Drive. Doors open at 3: 30 p.m., and the rally will kick off shortly thereafter.
Natassia Paloma may be reached at npaloma@gannett.com, @NatassiaPaloma on X, natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma on Facebook.
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