TEXAS — Texas Republicans attending rallies for Senate nominee Ken Paxton are expressing more enthusiasm for defeating his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, than for the three-term attorney general himself.
In interviews with the Washington Examiner, some rallygoers cited their opposition to Talarico or their support for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who has been campaigning alongside Paxton, as their primary motivation for attending.
“Nothing particular about Paxton, quite honestly. It’s my distaste for Talarico,” 66-year-old Eric Zieche said at a rally for Paxton at Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que in New Braunfels, Texas.
At the event, Paxton was joined by Cruz, who has been floated as a potential 2028 presidential candidate. With Paxton locked in a tight race against Talarico less than a week before Election Day, several attendees cited Cruz when asked why they came out.
“The wife wanted to meet Ted Cruz, and just like everybody else, Texas cannot be that way,” 60-year-old James Havanki said, alluding to the prospect of a Democrat winning statewide office. “It just cannot, right? At any cost, it wouldn’t matter if the elephant man was running. I’d be out here to vote.”
Paxton faced another hurdle last week when the venue that hosted his Saturday rally in New Braunfels said the event was the “action of a rogue employee.”
“Ownership of Cooper’s in New Braunfels had no knowledge beforehand that Ken Paxton was going to be allowed to hold an event at our location this morning,” Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que wrote in a Facebook post. “We are not in the business of endorsing political candidates. This is the action of a rogue employee and was not authorized by ownership and will be addressed internally.”
Republicans have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the Texas Senate race after Paxton defeated longtime Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in a bruising primary earlier this year. Republicans have sought to make Talarico unpalatable to Texas voters by highlighting some of his past comments, including calling God “nonbinary” and saying there are “six sexes.”
The Texas Democrat has since walked back those statements, calling them “provocative” when a Republican voter pressed him on his faith at a CNN town hall earlier this month.
Regarding his previous comment about God being nonbinary, Talarico said, “I was being provocative and I want to admit that and come clean about that. But I think what I was saying is actually not controversial theologically, the idea that we can’t define God using human categories. Not only did I say that, but the late Charlie Kirk said that, the late Pope Benedict said that.”
“And so, yes, I was doing it maybe in an annoying way. I can admit that,” Talarico conceded.
But while Talarico and Cruz were driving factors in turnout at Paxton’s rallies, attendees said they were still working to get the three-term attorney general across the finish line.
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“Honestly, I want to see Ted Cruz again, but I am very excited against Talarico,” 44-year-old Chris Straughan said. “I think he’d be horrible for Texas, and so anything I can do to further the efforts of Ken Paxton, I’m gonna, I’m gonna do it.”
At each rally, Paxton has acknowledged the importance of turnout, urging attendees to bring their friends and family to vote while pointing to Fox News polling showing the race neck and neck. He asked supporters for three things: prayers, contributions to his campaign, and telling people to “vote Republican” every day until the election.