James Talarico spent part of 2023 on the floor of the Texas House telling reporters that Texas “produce[s] some of the best drag queens in the nation.” Now he’s running for U.S. Senate, and Republicans aren’t letting him forget it.
“I think Texas is obviously the best state in the nation and I think we produce some of the best drag queens in the nation,” Talarico told The Texas Newsroom in May 2023. He made the comments while opposing Senate Bill 12, which bans sexually oriented performances on public property and in front of minors.
Talarico voted “present” on the bill. He said the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus asked him to do it after language specifically naming drag performers was taken out of an earlier draft. His reasoning: the softer bill would leave drag shows better protected. Gov. Greg Abbott signed it anyway that June. A federal appeals court cleared the law for enforcement this past February.
Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee running against Talarico for John Cornyn’s open Senate seat, was quick to hit back.
“This is just one more addition to the long list of out-of-touch, extreme views James Talarico holds that are out of step with the people of Texas,” Paxton spokeswoman Madison Cercy said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The RNC piled on too. Spokesman Zach Kraft said Talarico needs to “stay away from kids and stop forcing his creepy trans-for-all agenda on Texas.”
The drag queen clip isn’t the only thing following Talarico around. Other resurfaced recordings show the 37-year-old former middle school teacher and seminarian saying “God is nonbinary,” claiming there are six biological sexes, and saying he “hates Christianity” in a 2022 interview with a transgender theologian. Video also shows him calling meat reduction “existential” for fighting climate change while praising a group pushing to shut down Texas’ oil and gas industry.
Texas hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994. Republicans are betting Talarico’s record makes it a short campaign.
