James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat in Texas, is answering a string of attacks from Republican officials and conservative outlets — some new, some resurfacing from earlier in the campaign — as his race against Attorney General Ken Paxton stays close heading toward the November 3, 2026 general election.
Key facts
- Candidate: James Talarico, Democratic nominee, Texas House member since 2018
- Opponent: Attorney General Ken Paxton (Republican)
- General election: November 3, 2026
- Primary win: March 3, 2026 — defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, 52.4% to 46.2%
- Polling: mixed, with no candidate holding a consistent lead
- Main flashpoints: the Mamdani/DSA comparisons, remarks on the Karmelo Anthony trial jury, remarks on the SAVE Act, and a disputed private comment about Colin Allred
Who is James Talarico
Talarico has represented an Austin-area district in the Texas House since 2018. He won the Democratic Senate primary on March 3, 2026, defeating U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett 52.4% to 46.2%. Born May 17, 1989, in Round Rock, he holds a government degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s in education policy from Harvard, and previously taught middle school on the west side of San Antonio.
In the legislature, he has sponsored bills that:
- Capped insulin copays at $25 a month
- Imported lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada
- Restricted police contracts with reality-TV ride-along shows
Where the race stands
The Senate race has stayed tight all summer, and different polls disagree about who is ahead:
- Texas Southern University poll (published Aug. 4): Talarico 47%, Paxton 45%
- Emerson College/Nexstar poll (Aug. 9-10): Paxton 47%, Talarico 46% — effectively a tie
- A poll cited during an Aug. 23 segment on ABC’s “This Week” — the segment did not name the polling organization — showed Talarico about 2 points ahead, within the margin of error
No single number has held for long, and the race remains unsettled with about ten weeks left before Election Day.
GOP officials tie Talarico to Mamdani and democratic socialism
During that same Aug. 23 appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Gov. Greg Abbott went after Talarico by tying him to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, reportedly calling him an “acolyte” of Mamdani. On Aug. 20, Rep. Beth Van Duyne said Talarico backs policies that would “kill” Texas and called him “pretty much a complete DSA candidate,” a reference to the Democratic Socialists of America — though reporting on her claim found no record that Talarico has ever belonged to the group. Paxton’s campaign has separately run ads describing Talarico as “too weird and radical for Texas.”
Attacks over the Karmelo Anthony case
The sharpest attacks trace back to comments Talarico made about the murder trial of Karmelo Anthony, who was convicted in June 2026 of killing fellow student Austin Metcalf at a Frisco, Texas track meet and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Anthony, now 19, had his request for a new trial denied by a Texas judge on Aug. 22; his legal team retains the option to pursue a further appeal.
On Aug. 5, appearing on “The Breakfast Club,” Talarico said of the case: “I’m not an expert on this particular case, but I know that there were no Black members of the jury, and to me, that’s the only evidence you need to really prove that this system is not working for Black Texans.” He did not comment on Anthony’s guilt or innocence.
The roughly 589-person jury pool did include Black prospective jurors. During jury selection, prosecutors struck the remaining Black prospective jurors, citing race-neutral reasons that included their work as educators. The defense raised a Batson challenge — a legal objection used when a lawyer argues jurors were struck because of their race — over those strikes, and the judge allowed them to stand. The 12-person jury that was ultimately seated had no Black members, matching what Talarico said on “The Breakfast Club.” Paxton has publicly attacked Talarico over the remarks, framing them as siding with a convicted murderer.
SAVE Act comments mischaracterized by conservative outlets
A separate controversy grew out of Talarico’s opposition to the federal SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship and photo ID to register to vote. Talarico said politicians pushing the bill “are trying to rob our neighbors, particularly our black neighbors, of those God-given rights” — a statement about the law’s effect on voters. Several conservative outlets ran headlines characterizing the remark as Talarico saying Black Americans are too “dumb” to get a photo ID — a phrase that does not appear in his quoted comments.
A disputed private remark from the primary
Talarico has also had to answer for a private conversation reported secondhand. During the primary in February, a TikTok user identified as Morgan Thompson alleged that Talarico privately called his then-rival Colin Allred a “mediocre Black man” after a Jan. 12 town hall in Plano. Talarico called the account a “mischaracterization of a private conversation,” saying he had described Allred’s campaign method, not Allred himself, as mediocre. Allred said Talarico had the “temerity and audacity” to make the remark. No audio or video of the exchange has surfaced.
Closed-door roundtable draws scrutiny
At an Aug. 13 rally near Abilene that drew more than 800 people and focused on opposition to unchecked data-center spending, Talarico’s campaign also held a separate, closed-door “bipartisan” roundtable on data centers that reportedly excluded some local press while cameras from MS NOW were present. Asked about it, Talarico said he wanted attendees to speak candidly without cameras, and his campaign held a separate public press availability at the same stop. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opened an inquiry into ABC’s “The View” over federal rules requiring equal time for political candidates after Talarico’s Feb. 2 appearance, and ABC later sued, alleging the FCC singled out its Houston affiliate, ABC13, for scrutiny. His campaign also hired a former staffer of Republican Sen. John Cornyn, described as an unusual cross-party hire.
Policy rollout continues
Through all of it, Talarico’s campaign has kept releasing policy: an economic plan on Aug. 5 built around repealing recent tax cuts for high earners and adding universal childcare, and a veterans’ plan on Aug. 14 aimed at ending “forever wars” and expanding VA home-loan, housing, health care and employment support. Whether any of it changes the trajectory of the race will not be clear until Texans vote on Nov. 3.
Timeline
- Jan. 12, 2026 — Town hall in Plano after which a private conversation was later alleged to have included a remark about Colin Allred
- Feb. 2026 — TikTok user identified as Morgan Thompson alleges Talarico privately called Allred a “mediocre Black man”
- March 3, 2026 — Talarico wins the Democratic Senate primary over Jasmine Crockett, 52.4% to 46.2%
- June 2026 — Karmelo Anthony convicted of murdering Austin Metcalf at a Frisco track meet; sentenced to 35 years
- Aug. 4, 2026 — Texas Southern University poll: Talarico 47%, Paxton 45%
- Aug. 5, 2026 — Talarico comments on the Anthony case on “The Breakfast Club”; campaign releases its economic plan
- Aug. 9-10, 2026 — Emerson College/Nexstar poll: Paxton 47%, Talarico 46%
- Aug. 13, 2026 — Rally near Abilene draws more than 800 people in opposition to unchecked data-center spending; a closed-door “bipartisan” roundtable on data centers reportedly excludes some local press
- Aug. 14, 2026 — Campaign releases its veterans’ plan
- Aug. 20, 2026 — Rep. Beth Van Duyne calls Talarico a “complete DSA candidate”
- Aug. 22, 2026 — Texas judge denies Karmelo Anthony’s request for a new trial
- Aug. 23, 2026 — Gov. Greg Abbott ties Talarico to Zohran Mamdani on ABC’s “This Week”; a poll cited on the same segment shows Talarico about 2 points ahead
- Nov. 3, 2026 — General election