Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico compared his rival, Republican Ken Paxton, to an ‘obnoxious’ bar patron during his final outing as a Senate candidate before Election Day.
Talarico packed downtown Austin’s barbecue joint Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater Monday night with nervous Democrats who were holding their breath to see if a Democrat could finally win statewide after 32 years.
At a rally alongside Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa, the 37-year-old Talarico stuffed his speech with pop culture references and with an example that his beer-drinking supporters would easily understand.
‘Every Texas bar has those regulars, the ones who pick up a round, the ones who check on the guy who’s drinking alone, the ones who share a laugh or a story or their fried pickles,’ Talarico, a state representative, said.
‘Every bar also has that one guy,’ he continued. ‘He’s loud. He’s obnoxious. He makes everyone feel uncomfortable. He hears you say your name to the bartender, and then he adds his drink to your tab when you’re not looking.’
‘That’s Ken Paxton,’ Talarico said to cheers. ‘And I don’t know about y’all, but I am done picking up his tab!’
Paxton, the state’s attorney general who was endorsed by President Donald Trump over Texas’ incumbent Senator John Cornyn, has had a handful of corruption scandals and was impeached by his own party.
Late-breaking polls showed Paxton trailing Talarico by 7 points. Democrats need to net four seats in Tuesday’s midterms to take control of the Senate.
Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico hosted his final rally of the 2026 midterms at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q’s Waller Creek Amphitheater in downtown Austin, where he likened his rival, Republican Ken Paxton, to an ‘obnoxious’ bar patron
Supporters of Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico packed into Stubb’s Bar-B-Q’s Waller Creek Amphitheater to hear the hopeful give one final speech before Election Day, as polls show the Democrat ahead
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Talarico called Paxton ‘the most corrupt politician in Texas history,’ aided by trillionaire Elon Musk, who has given at least $168 million to help the Republican win.
‘I want to be a senator for every Texan who can’t afford one,’ the Democrat said.
He argued that Texas needed someone better – and who dreamed bigger.
Talarico talked about his mother and how she taught him that ‘Texas is beautiful, Texas is bold and, most importantly, Texas is big.’
‘Big hair, big hearts and big dreams,’ the candidate continued.
‘Our athletes are beloved across the globe: Cowboys, Spurs, Longhorns. Our musicians are so iconic that they only need one name: Willie, Selena, Beyoncé,’ he noted.
‘This won’t happen overnight, but a giant state deserves giant dreams,’ Talarico said.
His supporters were a mix of nervous and optimistic.
Supporters of Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico told the Daily Mail they were a mix of nervous and optimistic about his chances, as a Democrat hasn’t been elected statewide in 32 years
Supporters of Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico hold ‘Take Back Texas’ signs at the candidate’s final rally on Monday night in downtown Austin, Texas, ahead of the 2026 midterm election
Texas Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Gina Hinojosa (left) stands onstage alongside Senate candidate James Talarico (right) at a final rally in downtown Austin, Texas before the 2026 midterm election
‘I am very hopeful, but I am not overconfident, though; this is going to be a really tough race. It’s going to have a lot of turnout issues for tomorrow, even,’ David Marchman, a 67-year-old retiree from Austin, told the Daily Mail. ‘But I feel there’s a lot of energy behind him right now in the state, so I’m feeling very good about that.’
Marchman said he ‘absolutely’ felt better about Talarico’s chances than he did about Democratic Representative Beto O’Rourke in 2018, who came within 2.6 points of unseating Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
At the time, O’Rourke looked poised to beat Cruz, though polling still showed him trailing the GOP incumbent.
Maggie Theis, 18, a freshman at UT Austin, said she’d been studying the race in class and had come to the conclusion it was going to be a nail-biter.
‘It’s really just going to be so cutthroat and so close,’ she told the Daily Mail.
But her friend, Ben Webb, 19, also a freshman at UT Austin who works for a state legislator, said he was feeling ‘bullish’ because O’Rourke had never caught up with Cruz in the polls.
‘In this election, Talarico has been consistently ahead,’ Webb argued. ‘I think he’s going to pull it off.’
Webb then displayed that Talarico’s bad bar patron reference wasn’t lost on the crowd.
‘Win or lose, we booze,’ he told the Daily Mail.
‘If Talarico wins, it’s a night I want to remember. And if Paxton wins, it’s a night I want to forget,’ Webb said.
