Paxton-Talarico Texas Senate race turns on scandals and gender attacks

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wasted no time after clinching the Republican nomination for Senate this week. His first general election ad went straight at Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, labeling him too low-T for Texas. The spot frames Talarico as the embodiment of a softer, more effeminate brand of politics that Republicans believe has taken hold on the left.

Paxton hammered the point at a victory event, calling his opponent tofu Talarico, six-gender Jimmy, and Low-T Talarico. The crowd laughed and cheered. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller echoed the line on social media, dubbing Talarico the Democrats first transgender Senate candidate. Miller added that Talarico bleeds soy milk instead of blood during a physical. Talarico is not transgender. He is a cisgender man in a relationship with a woman and has positioned himself as an LGBTQ ally.

The attacks reflect a broader shift inside the Republican Party. Under President Trump, public emphasis on traditional markers of manhood has become a standard campaign tool. Paxton, who defeated Sen. John Cornyn in the runoff after Trump threw his support behind the attorney general, carries his own baggage. He faced impeachment in 2023 over bribery allegations and an extramarital affair, though he was acquitted. His wife later filed for divorce. Those issues have not slowed the focus on Talarico's personal style and record.

Talarico once told fellow lawmakers during a debate over biological males in women's sports that God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary, he said. He has since tried to walk the comment back, describing it as an attempt to be provocative and insisting God exists above human categories. Republicans have kept the clip in circulation. They argue it reveals a candidate more comfortable with progressive gender theories than with the plain language of scripture or the expectations of Texas voters.

Talarico's background as a former Presbyterian seminarian and current member of the state House gives Democrats hope he can appeal to suburban and independent voters. His supporters compare him to Beto O'Rourke, who came close in a prior statewide race. Yet the masculinity attacks have landed quickly and loudly. They tap into widespread public discussion about falling testosterone levels among younger men, changing cultural signals around strength and competition, and the perception that Democrats prioritize fluid identities over biological reality.

Paxton's campaign presents the contest as a choice between a fighter who has battled federal and state investigations and a candidate whose public statements suggest discomfort with basic distinctions between men and women. Talarico has responded by stressing his faith and trying to moderate earlier rhetoric. The general election is still months away, but the opening exchanges have already centered on what kind of man belongs in the Senate seat.