Overview
- Talarico, who won the Democratic primary over Rep. Jasmine Crockett, was cited in at least one post-primary poll as narrowly leading potential Republican opponents John Cornyn and Ken Paxton in a race that could produce Texas’s first Democratic U.S. senator since 1988.
- President Donald Trump escalated criticism by calling Talarico “an insult to Jesus” and urging Republicans to prioritize defeating him, with the GOP nomination still headed to a Cornyn–Paxton runoff.
- Conservative outlets are amplifying past remarks and sermons in which Talarico said “God is nonbinary,” advanced theological arguments in favor of abortion rights, and warned about “Christian nationalism.”
- New scrutiny of his teaching-era posts includes a 2012 classroom assignment to write “Obama memoirs” and encouragement to watch the Democratic National Convention, which the NRSC criticized and which his campaign dismissed as stale attacks.
- The Austin American-Statesman reported that his campaign scrubbed primary endorsements from its website; his team said general-election endorsements are handled separately, while a political scientist called the move unusual and GOP rivals kept theirs online.