Ted Cruz said James Talarico has a real chance to beat Ken Paxton in Texas, adding that the Senate race is close and may turn on a 1- or 2-point margin. He made the remarks Wednesday on Sean Hannity’s radio show while discussing the race for Texas’ U.S. Senate seat.
Cruz said, “Unfortunately, I do think he has a real chance,” and added, “I think this is a real race. I think it’s going to be close. I think we’re going to win, I think we’re going to keep Texas red, but the polling right now shows this is a 1- or 2-point race.” The same call put Talarico in a category Cruz tried to dismiss and elevate at once: “radical,” “extreme,” “charming,” “affable,” and sounding “like a preacher.”
Greg Abbott on Talarico
Greg Abbott, who was hosting the radio show, said, “I personally think Talarico is going to be very beatable once Texans get to know who he really is.” Cruz also said he had told Abbott that Talarico has a real chance. The exchange put a public Republican warning on a race that recent public polling has shown running neck and neck.
Abbott has repeatedly called him “Jimmy Talarico” while ignoring his actual opponent, Gina Hinojosa. Cruz said Talarico labeled God “nonbinary” and previously ran a “non-meat” reelection campaign, and he said there are “six recognized sexes.” Those lines were part of a broader argument that Talarico can look approachable to voters even as Republicans attack his record and language.
Cruz’s 2018 margin
Cruz also drew on his own reelection history, saying his 2018 margin was 2.6 points. That was Texas’ closest statewide race this millennium, and he used it to describe how narrow statewide contests in Texas can be when turnout and persuasion line up.
Recent public polling has shown Talarico running well ahead of where Beto O’Rourke was at the same point six years ago, even as Republicans frame the contest around Donald Trump and Texas Democrats’ effort to appeal to middle-of-the-road voters. The polling Cruz cited was not detailed on air, leaving the exact numbers behind the 1- or 2-point range unresolved.
Texas Senate race
The immediate takeaway for the race is simple: Cruz did not just attack Talarico, he said the Democrat could win. That puts the contest in the rare position of having a Republican senator publicly describe his party’s nominee as vulnerable and the margin as close enough to matter in any final turnout push.
Paxton records request fight sits alongside the Senate race as another open front around the same name, but the campaign question now is the one Cruz put on the record: whether the polling that shows a 1- or 2-point race holds when voters decide.
