{"id":920,"date":"2026-07-12T10:07:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T10:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=920"},"modified":"2026-07-12T10:07:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T10:07:37","slug":"ted-cruz-warns-james-talarico-has-real-chance-to-flip-texas-senate-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=920","title":{"rendered":"Ted Cruz warns James Talarico has \u201creal chance\u201d to flip Texas Senate seat"},"content":{"rendered":"<section>\n<p>Calling in to Sean Hannity\u2019s radio show Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz offered a blunt warning cry to his party: Democratic state Rep. James Talarico has a legitimate shot at flipping Texas this year.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=917\">Lindsey Graham, from Trump critic to ally, dies at 71<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, I do think he has a real chance,\u201d Cruz told Gov. Greg Abbott, who guest hosted the three-hour talk radio program. \u201cI think this is a real race. I think it\u2019s going to be close. I think we\u2019re going to win, I think we\u2019re going to keep Texas red, but the polling right now shows this is a 1- or 2-point race.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cruz went on to call the Austin Democrat \u201cradical\u201d and \u201cextreme\u201d for labeling God nonbinary, saying there are six recognized sexes and previously running a \u201cnon-meat\u201d reelection campaign, all part of the trove of attacks Republicans have unfurled against the Democratic Senate nominee.<\/p>\n<p>Cruz, Texas\u2019 future senior senator, speaks from some experience. At 2.6 points, his 2018 reelection margin marked Texas\u2019 closest statewide race this millennium. Recent public polling has shown Talarico running neck and neck with the GOP nominee, Attorney General Ken Paxton \u2014 well ahead of where the polls had Cruz\u2019s opponent, Beto O\u2019Rourke, at the same point six years ago.<\/p>\n<p>As in 2018, the national environment looks ripe for Democrats given voter backlash to President Donald Trump, whose approval rating has settled just under 40% since late April. And once again, Texas Democrats are running a candidate who hopes to appeal to middle-of-the-road voters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis guy is also charming,\u201d Cruz warned. \u201cHe is affable, he sounds like a preacher, and I worry about the voters who may not be paying close attention to the issues, who just turn on the TV and say, \u2018Oh, he seems like a nice young man.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Abbott was more optimistic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI personally think Talarico is going to be very beatable once Texans get to know who he really is,\u201d the governor said, pointing to the litany of attack lines Cruz recounted. Abbott, who is up for reelection in November, has trained his early fire on Talarico, repeatedly calling him \u201cJimmy Talarico\u201d while ignoring his actual opponent, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin.<\/p>\n<p>Paxton has faced his own share of attack ads, including from Republicans hoping to stop him from ousting U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the primary. Cruz encouraged Republicans and \u201cordinary commonsense Texans\u201d to vote, echoing concerns Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has raised repeatedly about the prospect of a divided GOP spelling the party\u2019s defeat. In particular, Patrick has called on Cornyn to do more to help Paxton.<\/p>\n<p>Cornyn has said he will support the Republican ticket but told reporters he will not campaign for Paxton.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=915\">Trump: \u201c1000 missiles are locked and loaded\u201d for Iran if he\u2019s killed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need John to come around,\u201d Patrick told conservative radio host Mark Davis on Wednesday morning, while also questioning whether acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock had officially endorsed his successor, GOP nominee Don Huffines, since losing the primary. Hancock announced his resignation last month, and Abbott said he would tap Huffines, Abbott\u2019s one-time gubernatorial challenger, to fill the remainder of the term.<\/p>\n<p>Cruz, meanwhile, was not the only guest to bash Talarico during Abbott\u2019s run as talk radio host. Later in the show, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott, a senator from South Carolina, likened Talarico\u2019s values to the \u201camorality\u201d of embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who has described himself as a democratic socialist. Platner suspended his campaign Wednesday amid accusations of rape and sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemocrats are bound and determined to turn the page to socialism today and communism tomorrow,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n<p>Abbott, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, and Cruz, a former state solicitor general, also discussed the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision rejecting Trump\u2019s executive order banning birthright citizenship. The pair discussed ways around the ruling outside of a constitutional amendment, including passing a federal law or executive order denying visas to women who are visibly pregnant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it\u2019s someone coming before there\u2019s any indication they\u2019re pregnant, that\u2019s one thing, but if someone is seven, eight, nine months pregnant and visibly pregnant, I think the administration ought to say we will not grant a tourist visa, visitor visa or any other visa to anyone who is pregnant,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cThat makes sense, and there\u2019s no legal impediment to doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The governor\u2019s other guests included White House border czar Tom Homan, newly anointed trillionaire Elon Musk, Buc\u2019ee\u2019s founder and CEO Arch \u201cBeaver\u201d Aplin III and Longhorns Football Coach Steve Sarkisian. Notably, neither Homan nor Abbott addressed the fatal shooting of a man in Houston on Tuesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.<\/p>\n<p>Humoring the governor, Musk told Abbott he\u2019d try to get a Texas flag emoji on his social media platform, X, drawing a round of applause from the governor over the air.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=913\">Times journalists face subpoena over Air Force One security story<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-157\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7b47b2affaee6075c4c48afb8ca996af.webp\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-919\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/625796ca2bfb8d29114be62eff6bd03d.png\"\/><\/figure>\n <\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republican senator said Talarico is \u201ccharming\u201d enough to win voters \u201cwho may not be paying close attention.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[244,246,1242],"class_list":["post-920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-james-talarico","tag-ken-paxton","tag-ted-cruz"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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