Texas Senate candidate James Talarico is refusing to answer questions about his voting history and residency, even as his own campaign runs ads demanding his Republican opponent Ken Paxton answer questions about his record.
A joint investigation by the Texas Tribune and ProPublica found that Talarico voted in five elections using his parents' address after purchasing a home roughly six miles away in June 2022. Texas law requires residents to register to vote where they live. Talarico did not update his voter registration until September 2024, more than two years after buying the three-bedroom north Austin home for more than $400,000.
The Democrat delivered a policy speech in Arlington this week but declined to take questions from reporters afterward, CBS News Texas reported. When a man approached Talarico and asked, "Why did you commit voter fraud?" a Talarico staffer took the man's phone and turned it off, according to video posted by RNC Research.
His campaign has not explained when Talarico began living at the home he purchased. Instead, a campaign spokesperson cited "credible threats" from "right-wing actors" trying to locate Talarico and his family as the reason for declining to answer.
The refusal to answer stands in sharp contrast to Talarico's own campaign messaging. His campaign promoted an ad on X that read: "Ken Paxton is refusing to answer basic questions about his corruption and criminal record. Texans are demanding answers. What are you hiding, @KenPaxtonTX?"
Talarico himself has said publicly: "I have a legislative record, Ken Paxton has a criminal record." But Breitbart News previously fact-checked that claim and found that securities fraud charges against Paxton were dismissed without a trial or conviction. The Department of Justice separately declined to prosecute a corruption investigation involving Paxton. He has no criminal conviction stemming from the matters Talarico has cited.
Paxton, meanwhile, shared a photograph of himself taking questions from a crowd of reporters during the announcement of his "Protecting the Texas Promise" agenda, drawing a visual contrast with Talarico's refusal to face the press.
Paxton did not hold back about his opponent's voting record. In a statement, he said:
"James Talarico has proven he has zero regard for Texans and the rule of law. He's been lying to voters and shamelessly committing election fraud to hold onto power."
The residency questions do not exist in a vacuum. Talarico's state financial disclosures paint an unusual picture for a man who says he moved into his own home years ago. His 2024 and 2025 filings listed his parents' home as the business address for his self-employed work as an "Education Consultant." His personal financial disclosure showed a single Wells Fargo checking account, valued between $15,000 and $50,000, held jointly with his mother.
He also reported a $1,437.84 in-kind contribution from his parents for "moving expenses", but that entry appeared in 2021, a full year before he purchased the Austin home in June 2022.
Talarico's campaign maintained that he lives and is registered at the north Austin home he purchased. But the campaign has not explained the gap between the June 2022 purchase and the September 2024 voter registration update, or why his parents' address continued to appear on official filings.
Talarico's record of saying one thing and doing another is not limited to his residency. He missed more than 800 votes during his time in the Texas Legislature, a fact that undercuts his claim to a strong legislative record.
Madison Cercy, Paxton's campaign spokeswoman, issued a statement to Breitbart News that went further than her candidate's public remarks:
"Talarico has been spoon-fed easy questions by the media throughout his entire time in office and is now refusing to answer credible questions about how he committed voter fraud. Talarico has spent his campaign flip-flopping and lying to Texans with zero accountability. Talarico must answer for defrauding his constituents by falsely claiming to live at his mother's house."
Texas ethics attorney Andrew Cates offered a more measured legal view, describing the state's residency provisions as "broad and vague." Cates noted that prosecuting such cases would require proof that a voter knowingly or intentionally broke the law. No formal legal proceeding or election fraud complaint related to Talarico's registration has been reported.
Still, the legal gray area does not resolve the political problem. Talarico built his campaign on the argument that Paxton is unfit to serve because of past legal entanglements, entanglements that ended without conviction. Now Talarico faces questions about his own compliance with election law and will not sit still long enough to answer them.
The residency controversy lands at a precarious moment for Talarico's candidacy. He won the Democratic primary earlier this year over Rep. Jasmine Crockett, AP News reported, positioning himself as the Democratic challenger in a state where the party has not won a statewide race in three decades.
A Fox News poll showed Talarico holding a narrow 51-to-48-percent edge over Paxton among registered voters, though the survey also found that 59 percent of voters are concerned Paxton lacks the character to serve. Republican pollster Daron Shaw noted that Paxton "has considerable work to do with non-MAGA Republicans and independents, and that undoubtedly requires aggressively tying Talarico to the Democratic Party's far left."
Paxton has no shortage of material for that effort. Talarico headlined a 2021 Pride event in Taylor, Texas, that featured an 11-year-old boy drag performer, the Washington Free Beacon reported. He voted against a Republican bill to criminalize drag shows when children are present and has called restrictions on child gender procedures "Christofascism."
And Talarico's coalition problems extend beyond ideology. At a Houston town hall, a Black Lives Matter organizer named Kandice Webber publicly confronted him, saying: "You're not leaving here until you answer our questions. Black people don't trust you for this reason, and you cannot win without us." Webber later posted on Facebook that Talarico "has no real interest in improving the quality of life for Black Texas," as the Washington Examiner reported.
Those coalition fractures only sharpen the damage of the residency story. A candidate who cannot hold his own base together can ill afford to look like he is hiding something from voters.
Separately, the New York Times reported that Talarico is dating Brianna Menard, a health care lobbyist who previously served as his chief of staff. The relationship began while she worked as a top aide to him. Texas House rules do not prohibit lawmakers from having relationships with lobbyists or staff members.
Talarico campaign spokesperson Ennis addressed the matter in a statement: "Four years ago, after he and his then-chief of staff developed feelings for each other and started dating, she left the office to pursue other opportunities." The campaign added: "As right-wing operatives continue to attack James's loved ones, the campaign is asking the public to respect Brianna's privacy as a private citizen."
The "right-wing operatives" framing has become a familiar refrain. On the residency questions, "right-wing actors." On the lobbyist relationship, "right-wing operatives." On questions from voters at town halls, confrontation. On questions from reporters after a policy speech, silence. The pattern is consistent: when the questions get uncomfortable, Talarico's campaign assigns blame to the people asking rather than providing answers.
Democrats have struggled to unify behind Talarico even before the residency story broke. A candidate who runs on transparency and accountability should be able to answer a simple question: where do you live, and where did you vote?
If you demand answers from your opponent, you had better be ready to give your own. Talarico is learning that lesson the hard way, and so far, his only answer is to grab the phone and turn it off.