Vice President JD Vance told East Texas voters on Tuesday that Democrat James Talarico is "a threat to your way of life," as new polls show the state representative holding a narrow edge over Republican Ken Paxton in the race for Texas' open U.S. Senate seat.
Vance spoke at a rally at Tyler Pounds Regional Airport less than a week before early voting begins and three weeks out from the November election.
The trip came days after President Donald Trump rallied for Paxton in San Antonio, his third stop in the state in a month. Republicans have held the seat for decades. Democrats haven't won any statewide race in Texas in 32 years.
Newsweek has reached out to the Paxton and Talarico campaigns for comment via email.
What Did JD Vance Say About James Talarico?
Vance painted Talarico as a left-wing candidate dressed up as a moderate.
"While we may laugh at James Talarico for all of the goofy stuff that he says, the simple fact is, he is dead serious. He is crazy, and we cannot elect 'Tala-freako' to the U.S. Senate," he said, warning that Talarico would "spend every single day trying to shove left-wing ideology down the throats of this country."
He pointed to the Democrat's past comments about Texans cutting back on meat. "He is a threat to your way of life. He is a threat to your livelihood," Vance told the crowd.
The vice president also went after Talarico's statements on gender and transgender youth. When a man in the audience shouted that he loved him, Vance answered: "I love you too, sir. In a totally platonic way, to be clear. I love you too. I'm the Vice President, not James Talarico."
At an earlier Texas appearance this month, Vance, Catholic, questioned whether Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian who has built his campaign around his faith, was sincere about it. "A man who wears your religion as a cover will never fight for your values," he said then.
Republicans have also labeled Talarico a socialist. Talarico rejects the socialist label and describes himself as a capitalist, though Republicans have sought to portray the progressive Texas Democrat as a democratic socialist by highlighting past criticisms of capitalism and economic inequality.
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Ken Paxton Vs. James Talarico: What Latest Polls Show
Talarico leads in four of the five most recent public surveys, though the margins shift from poll to poll.
A ReconMR/Siena Research Institute poll of 617 likely voters, taken October 5 to 8, put him ahead 48 percent to 44 percent. The Trafalgar Group, a Republican pollster, found the same four-point gap, 47 percent to 44 percent, among 1,086 likely voters surveyed October 6 to 8.
YouGov, polling 3,623 likely voters from September 28 to October 5, had Talarico up 50 percent to 44 percent. A New York Times/Siena poll conducted September 21 to 30 showed a similar lead, 51 percent to 45 percent, among 615 likely voters.
The newest survey is the closest. Quantus Insights found the two men tied at 47 percent among 854 likely voters polled October 9 to 11, with Libertarian Brown at 2 percent.
Talarico has also outraised Paxton $31.6 million to $9.3 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Some of Texas' best-known country musicians have lined up behind him, Willie Nelson and Kacey Musgraves among them.
Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist who has followed the race closely, told Newsweek the GOP's attacks are running into an environment money can't fix.
"I think the fundamentals against the Republicans are so strong that there's no amount of money or attacks that can change the contours of the race," Madrid said. "The race is set. Baked in."
Ken Paxton Reportedly Seen With Fugitives and Girlfriend Tracy Duhon
Paxton is also dealing with a Wall Street Journal report published Monday that he spent New Year's Eve 2024 in Dubai with his girlfriend and two men under federal indictment.
The Journal reported that Paxton and Tracy Duhon watched the fireworks over the Burj Khalifa from a crowded luxury high-rise balcony alongside Anosh Ahmed and Sameer Suhail. The paper cited video of the party, court filings and people familiar with the matter.
Both men were indicted in federal court in Illinois in 2024, charged with embezzling $15 million from a Chicago hospital where Ahmed was chief financial officer. Campaign finance records reviewed by the Journal show Ahmed gave Paxton $190,000, including $25,000 days after his indictment. Both have since come back to the U.S. to face the charges.
Paxton's wife, state Senator Angela Paxton, filed for divorce last year, citing adultery.
In a statement to the Journal, senior political adviser Nick Maddux did not address the trip directly. "Like President Trump, Ken Paxton has been politically persecuted for years, and every time, voters have seen through it and sent him back to office because they know he has always fought for Texas," he said.
Talarico took to X: "A party with multiple fugitives and Ken Paxton is still the sketchiest guy in the room."
Was James Talarico Missing? Absence Explained
Talarico spent nine days off the trail with the flu, his campaign said, recovering at home in Austin. He resurfaced Friday with an unannounced stop at the Austin City Limits music festival.
Republicans pounced. Paxton's campaign demanded "proof of life," paid for "missing" posters around the state and aired ads counting the days. "When I came in here today, we were on day 11 of James Talarico not showing up in public and canceling all public appearances," Paxton said at last week's San Antonio rally with Trump.
Some right-wing influencers went further, claiming without evidence that Talarico had checked into a mental health facility in Ohio. The Lindner Center of Hope shut that down Sunday, posting that "Representative James Talarico has never received treatment from Lindner Center of Hope." The campaign also gave CBS News security camera footage that appears to show him at home during the first eight days of October.
"Yeah, I got the flu and I'm feeling much better and I'm glad I had a chance to recover," Talarico told NBC 5. On the rumors: "The internet's doing its thing."
Madrid doubted the episode would matter much. "I don't think this changed the dynamics of the race at all," he said. "Especially with the way that it ultimately played out. It looks more like a desperation tactic than anything else."
Will There Be a Texas Senate Debate?
Nothing is on the calendar. Without one, this would be the first Texas Senate race since 2000 to go without a debate.
Trump pushed the question back into view last week. Hours after the San Antonio rally, he wrote on Truth Social that Talarico was "MISSING IN ACTION" and "should immediately report to a Debate Stage against Ken Paxton, who is ready, willing, and able."
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Talarico said yes almost immediately. "I agree with President Trump, I think Ken Paxton should debate," he said after returning to the trail. Over the weekend he borrowed Paxton's own line of attack on X: "I challenged Ken Paxton to a debate 85 days ago, but no one has heard from him. People are getting worried."
He has accepted invitations from CNN, Hearst, Nexstar and WFAA, and offered to meet Paxton on Fox News with Bret Baier moderating. A Texas A&M student group invited both men to debate Wednesday in College Station. Neither campaign has committed.
"Of course we are going to debate James Talarico, and we look forward to engaging with potential debate hosts," Maddux said back in July. The campaign later objected to some proposed moderators and hasn't accepted any offer.
Paxton never debated an opponent in any of his three runs for attorney general.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Gray R. Thomas