In July, Ken Paxton senior adviser Nick Maddux said, “Of course we are going to debate James Talarico.” He went on to attack Democrat Talarico for “shamelessly deceiving Texas voters about his radical record without answering the hard questions.”
Well, guess which one of the two Senate candidates is really avoiding the hard questions? Spoiler alert: It’s not Talarico.
As of Thursday, Paxton had refused to commit to a single debate. Dallas television station WFAA reported Tuesday that Paxton’s campaign had “gone silent” and stopped responding to messages more than a month ago.
Talarico accepted that debate invitation, as well as one from CNN, The Texas Tribune reported. Maddux turned down that invitation, too. This time, he claimed the moderators would be “far-left activists” who would try to turn the event “into a CCP-style struggle session.”
Paxton was also invited to participate in the 2026 Texas Tribune Festival, “but his campaign stopped responding to inquiries and ultimately did not accept,” as per The Tribune.
One can understand why disgraced wife-cheater Paxton would want to avoid the hard questions. But a candidate for the U,S. Senate should be prepared for them.
Now, Talarico has offered to debate Paxton in what would likely be the friendliest forum possible: Fox News, with Bret Baier as moderator, The Texas Tribune said. “Texans deserve to make an informed choice in this really critical race, so I’m challenging Ken Paxton to a game on his own turf,” Talarico said. “He’s been running from accountability his whole life. It’s time to stop running.”
“I am proud of my record, and I’m not afraid of hard questions,” Talarico also said. “Ken Paxton is running from the fight. That sounds like low-T behavior to me.”
Will Paxton come up with yet another excuse to chicken out?
