Paxton Scores Border Patrol Union Pitch
after GOP Sheriff Plugs Talarico Proposal
Capitol Inside
July 14, 2026
U.S. Senate contender Ken Paxton sought to play catch up and one-up Democrat James Talarico on the explosive issue of national security at the Rio Grande on Tuesday when he touted an endorsement from the federal Border Patrol union that vigorously supported the incumbent John Cornyn in the primary and runoff elections.
The National Border Patrol Council pitched its support to the state attorney general on the day after Talarico unveiled a bipartisan border security plan in the tiny West Texas town of Sanderson with the Republican county sheriff and law enforcement officers from surrounding areas on board.
Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland, who's been a Donald Trump supporter in a location the president carried with almost 78 percent of the vote in 2024, appeared with Talarico and his Democratic counterparts from Brewster and Val Verde counties in a show of support for the "commonsense" proposal. Trump won Val Verde County with 63 percent of the vote two years ago when he claimed 56 percent in Brewster County in his third race for president.
State Rep. Eddie Morales - an Eagle Pass Democrat who's running again in a district where Trump won by 14 points in 2024 - attended the Talarico press conference as well.
The dueling border security announcements highlighted the importance of the vote in heavily-Hispanic areas in South Texas that had been dependably Democratic until Trump began to turn them red in 2020. El Paso and Presidio were the only two Texas border counties that Trump lost in 2024.
But recent polls have shown that one in every three or four Latinos who voted for Trump would not do so again amid disenchantment with White House economic policies and furious opposition to the immigration crackdown and mass deportations that have hurt many small businesses in border areas. While Trump's support has tumbled among Hispanic voters has tumbled
Trump's sway with Hispanics hasn't appeared to be helping Paxton much in his quest for the Texas Senate seat. A New York Times/Siena University poll in the second half of June found Talarico with 61 percent support among Hispanics in the survey compared to 29 percent for Paxton. Democrat Gina Hinojosa had a 21-point lead over Governor Greg Abbott among Latino voters in the NYT/Siena poll with 58 percent support from that critical bloc. Talarico led Paxton by 67 points among Blacks while the Texas AG was ahead by 22 points among white voters.
The most troubling news for Texas Republicans in the competition for Hispanic votes may have come last week in a U.S. Hispanic Business Council survey that found Talarico up on Paxton by 7 percentage points among Hispanic-owned businesses in Texas including a plurality that identify as Republicans. Twenty-percent of the private companies that were tested in the USHBC poll had at least one of their employees deported in the past year. The group found that 70 percent of the Hispanic businesses in the survey were affected adversely by the Trump tariffs.
Half of the Hispanics business owners who backed Cornyn for re-election have shifted their allegiance to Paxton - according to the USHBC pollsters' findings. But one of every four who supported the incumbent Texas senator said they plan to cast votes for Talarico in the November election now that Cornyn is no longer an option.
The border with Mexico is the front line in the battle for the Hispanic vote in Texas this fall. Talarico is in the midst of a Frontera tour that got under way in El Paso on Monday before the stop at the Desert Air Motel in Sanderson where he rolled out a comprehensive approach to security there. Talarico's proposal includes an increase in officers in border towns with the highest traffic, added immigration judges for asylum backlogs, boosts in drones and other surveillance technology to prevent drug and human trafficking and a more judicious use of barriers.
“ A border wall through Big Bend would be a monument to corruption,” Talarico told a crowd that he generated in Sanderson. “The construction of this useless wall has already been filled with no-bid contracts and backroom deals.”
Abbott, who's been focused on Talarico without giving lip service to the Democrat challenger in the governor's race, took a shot at the Democratic Senate candidate on social media. "Talarico wants Texans to believe he's a border security Democrat," Abbott said on X. "His votes say otherwise. Voted NO on penalties for illegal entry Voted NO on border security funding FAILED to show up to ban non-citizens from voting Jimmy is a woke-left candidate running from his record."
The governor declined to mention that Republican State Senator Brian Birdwell voted against legislation to give law enforcement in Texas the authority to arrest migrants for entering the state illegally from the south. Birdwell - a former Army officer who was seriously injured in the 9/11 attack at the Pentagon - opposed the measure on the grounds that it usurped the federal government's constitutional authority. Birdwell was the chairman of the Border Security Committee at the time the proposal known as Senate Bill 4 emerged from a special session in late 2023. Birdwell was the only Republican to side with the Democrats on SB 4.
Abbott's remarks on Talarico prompted a rebuke from veteran Democratic activist Matt Angle. "I think we can safely say that @jamestalarico is WAY tougher on illegal immigration than @GregAbbott_TX is on AI billionaire-backed data centers," Angle said on X. "Abbott is a trained poodle for his deep-pocket donors."
Paxton in the meantime used the Border Patrol union's belated plug as an opportunity to mention the president, who's endorsement a week before the primary runoff paved the way for a victory over Cornyn with 64 percent of the vote. "No one understands the consequences of open-border policies better than the brave men and women on the front lines," the attorney general said. "I will keep fighting to ensure President Trump’s border security agenda is fully implemented."
Paul Perez,, the National Border Patrol Council's president, praised Paxton without an attempt to explain why he hadn't been the group's choice for the nomination until now. "While many looked the other way during the Biden border crisis, Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken action to defend our state, our nation's sovereignty and to support those on the front line."
more to come ...
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