Talarico in Lubbock: 'We're Going to Shock the Nation,' Corruption Is Driving Up Prices, and a Hall Full of 'Talafreakos'

LUBBOCK - James Talarico opened by owning the insult. President Donald Trump coined "Talafreako" to denigrate him; standing before a packed Fiesta Center crowd on Tuesday night, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee turned it into a badge. "I know we're not the only show in town tonight, so I appreciate all 4,000 of you," Talarico said to cheers, USA Today reported in its live coverage. "That's a lot of Talafreakos in one room." He credited those supporters with delivering what he called the strongest grassroots campaign in the nation. "We're going to shock the nation, we're going to shock the world when we beat the billionaires and take back Texas," he said.

His argument was that corruption is a kitchen-table issue. "In the last election, Texans voted to bring down prices," Talarico said, arguing that instead of lowering them, Trump had increased the cost of living through corrupt policies and poor decisions, from the war on Iran to what he called "corrupt political deals" that raised healthcare costs. "We can change that in this election, in this state," he promised. The Wall Street Journal reported the sharper edge of the same speech: Talarico called his opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton, the most corrupt politician in Texas, citing Paxton's jump in net worth and his controversies. "This is the rot at the core of this broken system," he said. "It is why so many Texans can't get ahead, no matter how hard they work."

Talarico closed the argument in Texas terms. The state, he reminded the crowd, built its reputation as "the friendly state" - a bighearted ethos he said was lacking in Paxton, who moved to Texas from California. "What is with the Californians coming to Texas and saying don't California my Texas," he said to laughs, adding that Paxton was a man who would sooner add his drinks to someone else's tab. "We're done picking up his tab," Talarico said. "I want to be a senator for every Texan who can't afford one." Earlier in the program, former mayor Victor Leal, introducing himself as a "recovering Republican," attacked the outsized support Paxton has received from Elon Musk - $200 million in funding, by Leal's count from the stage. "That seat ain't for sale," Leal said. "That seat belongs to us, the people of Texas and it's going to James Talarico." The race remains in a dead heat a week before the November 3 election, according to an average of recent polling by Real Clear Politics, with control of the Senate - now 53-47 Republican - in the balance.