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The 2026 Texas Senate race is poised to be the most interesting of the midterm cycle. With Paxton, Cornyn, and Hunt battling it out on the Republican side, State Representative James Talarico looks to be the early frontrunner on the Democratic side of the aisle.
The only question is, can he do what no Democrat since the 1990s has been able to do: win a statewide election? Many say he could just be another Beto O'Rourke, including Silvio Canto Jr. of American Thinker, who said, "He is in many ways a perfect media candidate, just like Beto was. He speaks in this very charming language, but he's not very specific."
Canto says that while candidates like Talarico or O'Rourke play well on TV and social media and often rise to stardom in national Democratic circles, they simply aren't what most Texas voters are looking for, as evidenced by O'Rourke's multiple electoral defeats in statewide races.
Canto predicted that Talarico could face similar results in a statewide race. He said, "He knows what to say in 90 seconds or less, but you're gonna have to be more specific in a general election. So far, I don't think he can do it."
Canto believes that at the end of the day, Talarico's left-wing voting record in the Texas House will be his undoing, just as left-wing voting records sank Colin Allred and Beto O'Rourke. He said, "That's always been the failure of Democrats; they don't realize that Texas is more conservative than anything else."