Talarico Taunts Paxton on Debate Posturing
as AG Camp Says Deal on One in the Works General Election Polls
Capitol Inside
July 29, 2026
U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton's campaign reiterated his plans to face off with James Talarico in a televised debate on Wednesday after the Democrat portrayed the attorney general as a coward with a history of running from his record.
Paxton senior adviser Nick Maddux said the Republican Senate nominee was in the process of fashioning an agreement on a debate with a media "outlet" that he declined to identify with an announcement on a pact expected soon.
"What we don't do is negotiate through Talarico's press shop or let him hand-pick a moderator whose politics match his own nor would we expect him to enter a debate with us where a moderator matches our own politics," Maddux said in a statement that he post on X. .
"There will be a debate in this race, and it will be must-watch television because Texans are finally going to hear Talarico answer for transitioning children, boys in girls' sports, defunding the police, and demonizing the oil and gas industry that fuels the Texas economy," the Paxton strategist added.
Talarico appeared to dismiss the Paxton consultant's ambiguous claims about a deal in the works for at least one debate as blatant stalling - saying in a social media tweet that he's accepted invitations to appear at three debates during a three-week span before the general election this fall.
The debates have been set for September 22 in the Rio Grande Valley, October 6 in Dallas and October 13 in Austin. But the Texas Senate contender for the Democrats suggested that he'd have to see Paxton on a stage with him before he's convinced the Republican won't back out.
“Ken Paxton’s handlers claim he’s willing to debate, but every time a reporter asks a question, he literally runs away. He hasn’t set foot on a debate stage in over a decade and refuses to answer the public’s questions because he's not a public servant — he’s a puppet," Talarico said on X. "We’ll see if Ken Paxton has the courage to show up, or if he’ll run away like usual.”
Paxton has dodged questions from reporters at least twice in the past two weeks. Paxton walked out of a press conference with a group of sheriffs in Fort Worth after reporters asked him about allegations of illegal voting in the wake of his marriage's breakup and an extensive list of real estate holdings he's acquired as a full-time government employee for the past 12 years.
Paxton was captured on a cell phone video in Washington D.C. a day or two later when he hurried by a Texas-based reporter who sought to ask him about the proposed debates for the Senate contest in Texas before disappearing into a building.
The AG isn't viewed as a good public speaker on either side of the partisan aisle. While Paxton has done reasonably well in one-on-one interviews on conservative TV stations like Fox News, he can't expect the same kind of softball questions that he gets from talk show hosts and commentators who make no attempt to be tough or objective because they are rooting for him.
Paxton may feel like he has to appear at least one debate simply because the race is close. Polls have shown Paxton and Talarico running neck and neck since the AG eliminated veteran Senate Republican John Cornyn from the competition in a primary runoff election in May.
But Talarico had a 5-point lead over the Republican in a Texas Public Opinion Research survey that was released on Tuesday. The TPOR was the first poll on the Texas Senate contest to be made public in almost a month. Talarico appeared to have potential coattails in the new poll that found Governor Greg Abbott up on Democrat Gina Hinojosa by only 3 points while Republican Mayes Middleton was ahead of Democratic foe Nathan Johnson by a single percentage point in the race for attorney general.
more to come ...
| 
