James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas, is back in the national spotlight after Republicans picked their standard-bearer for the race on Tuesday.
Talarico, a state representative, will face off against state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who defeated Sen. John Cornyn in a primary runoff. President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton a week out from the election and helped him defeat Cornyn by more than 27 percentage points — but Paxton’s history of scandals and criticism from within his own party has stirred Democratic hopes that Talarico can beat him.
Now, Talarico is gearing up for what is expected to be a bruising general election where he will be in the crosshairs of both Paxton and Trump, who has already promised to visit Texas to campaign against him.
GOP officials have mocked him repeatedly as a “vegan,” which he is not, as part of a broader strategy of painting him as outside the mainstream for Texas. But in an unearthed 2022 clip, he talked about the need for Americans to reduce their meat consumption and touted how he was running a “non-meat campaign” for the Texas House.
Here’s what else to know about Talarico:
