Talarico is trying to win moderate voters. Why isn’t Paxton? [Houston Chronicle]
AUSTIN, TX — The Houston Chronicle is out with scathing new analysis on how Corrupt Ken Paxton’s failing campaign has been a disaster on a number of Texas issues important to moderate and independent voters.
While Talarico continues to expand his coalition, the Houston Chronicle recounts how Paxton fumbled opportunities to “present himself as something besides an inflexible acolyte” on key Texas issues – from Paxton saying he wanted limits on IVF, dodging on Texas’ THC ban, and taking money from the data center industry while failing to protect Texans.
Read more for yourself:
Houston Chronicle: Talarico is trying to win moderate voters. Why isn’t Paxton?
August 24, 2026
By Evan Mintz
The impossible happened last week in Texas politics, or at least the improbable: The Cook Political Report rated the Senate race between Democratic state Rep. James Talarico and Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton as a toss-up.
Texas Republicans have won every statewide race since 1994, so, much like Cabo Verde in the World Cup, even a tie can feel like a win to the long-suffering Democrats.
Cook's assessment of the race relies on polls that show the candidates running tied, but it also points to Paxton’s “personal and ethical vulnerabilities.” Not many GOP candidates were impeached by their fellow Republicans due to rampant corruption.
At the same time, Cook's Jessica Taylor notes that Talarico can be “appealing to disaffected Republicans.” That’s not by accident. The “soft-spoken Seminary student,” as Taylor describes him, has made earnest efforts to distinguish himself from the national Democratic brand, reach across the aisle and expand his electoral coalition.
For example, Talarico has been criticizing the Biden administration’s failure to secure the border since before the primary election.
“If we don't keep people safe, the government has failed in its most basic function,” he told the Houston Chronicle editorial board at the time.
Putting space between himself and the unpopular former president may have been a risky gambit during the partisan primary, but it’s paying off in the general election.
Talarico even went out of his way to applaud President Trump for supporting a gas tax holiday to deal with high prices at the pump — a bad policy, but smart politics for a Democrat in a red state.
To put it bluntly, Talarico has tried very hard to present himself as the more moderate choice in this race. It has been working.
Polls regularly show that Talarico has an overwhelming advantage with independent voters. And, at least anecdotally, he’s even getting some support from those “disaffected Republicans” Taylor identified. Last week, a staffer for Sen. John Cornyn made news for joining the Talarico campaign. No doubt that Jacob Smith, who worked for Cornyn for five years as a deputy legislative director and policy advisor, harbors some ire for the man who defeated his boss. But Smith also has plenty of praise for Talarico — specifically his appeal beyond the usual partisan lines.
“Instead of playing partisan politics, Talarico speaks to the needs of everyday people who day in and day out work too hard for too little,” Smith said in a statement to NOTUS. “In the Senate, James will fight to lower costs for all 31 million Texans, whether they’re Republicans, Democrats, or independents, so that Texans of all ages have a fighting chance at the American Dream of starting a family, owning a home, and leaving a little behind for their children.”
So what about Paxton?
For decades, Texas Republicans just had to show up to win a statewide race in November. The electoral math was easy — Texas had more Republican voters than Democratic. But with a tight race, Paxton might benefit from trying to moderate on the issues and expand his coalition beyond the hard-right base that delivered his primary victory over Cornyn.
To his credit, he tried. It didn’t go well.
Back in June, Paxton broke with the Texas Republican Party’s opposition to in-vitro fertilization and publicly declared that he was a “strong supporter” of the fertility procedure. It’s a smart issue to moderate on. Polls show that a majority of U.S. voters, including a majority of Republicans, oppose restrictions on IVF. The moderation didn’t stick. Less than a month later Paxton flip-flopped on the issue, said he wanted limits on IVF and recanted his support for a federal bill that would punish states that ban IVF.
That’s not the only time Paxton fumbled an opportunity to present himself as something besides an inflexible acolyte of the hard-right.
After being asked his thoughts on the state’s recent THC ban earlier this month, Paxton said he didn’t “know the details of it” — which is either a clumsy deflection or an admission that he’s ignorant of the state laws he’s tasked with enforcing as attorney general.
Paxton also failed to join other Texas Republicans in standing up to oppose the Trump administration bulldozing Big Bend National Park for a border barrier. He finally spoke up to support a pause announced by the White House.
He could be making news about suing the AI overlords, but instead you’ll just find headlines about Paxton receiving nearly $500,000 in campaign donations from the data center industry. Consider it another missed opportunity.
Both candidates are walking a tightrope of trying to appeal to a broad audience of voters without betraying their base. It’s a tough challenge. And yet even Fox News has criticized Paxton for failing to put in the effort necessary to win.
“Get out of your hole, Paxton, and do something,” a livid Jesse Watters ranted on The Five earlier this month. “I can’t win this race for you.”
There’s no doubt that Talarico is working hard to win over a majority of Texans. And Paxton? Well at this point, it’s a toss-up.
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