After being off the campaign trail for nearly two weeks, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico reappeared publicly at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Talarico’s campaign told the New York Times that he had been sick and recovering from a bad case of the flu. However, his absence fueled speculation about his whereabouts and became a focal point of criticism from Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton, President Donald Trump and other critics.
Talarico was last seen at an in-person event in Texas on Sept. 28, before flying to a New York City fundraiser alongside Democratic Ohio Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, who is challenging Republican Sen. Jon Husted.
While Talarico was away from the campaign trail, Paxton continued campaigning across Texas and repeatedly criticized his Democratic opponent.
During a joint rally with Trump in San Antonio, Paxton asked, “Where is James Talarico?”
Trump also took to his social media platform, Truth Social, where he called Talarico “missing in action.”
“TalaFREAKo has been missing for 12 days! Now, after looking for him throughout all of Texas, and beyond, probably even weirder places than anyone would think possible, he put out a statement that he has the ‘flu,’” Trump wrote. “12 days is a long time to rid yourself of the so-called flu bug. What’s going on?”
“We need a Senator that’s a proven Champion like one that has been, without question, the Greatest Attorney General in the History of Texas, and one of the Greatest in the U.S.A.,” Trump added.
After nearly two weeks away from the public campaign trail, Talarico’s campaign spokesperson, JT Ennis, posted on X addressing what he called “conspiracy theorists.”
“Hate to disappoint the conspiracy theorists, but James is still alive and meeting with voters at ACL today,” Ennis wrote.
However, the episode has drawn more than criticism of Talarico’s absence from the campaign trail. It has also drawn renewed attention to his attendance record in the Texas Legislature.
According to MyRepTracker, Talarico has missed 795 of 8,079 recorded roll-call votes during his time in the Legislature, giving him a 90% attendance rate.
That means Talarico has been absent for roughly one out of every 10 recorded votes.
His recent absence from the campaign trail and his legislative voting record have prompted his Republican opponents to question whether Texans can expect Talarico to consistently show up if elected to the U.S. Senate.
Talarico’s reappearance also comes as a recent poll conducted by UMass Lowell and YouGov found Paxton and Talarico tied at 45%, with 7% of respondents undecided and 1% saying they would not vote.
With the race essentially tied in the poll, Talarico’s recent absence from the campaign trail and his legislative attendance record could become points of scrutiny as early voting nears.
