Source: Politics<\/p>\n
He\u2019s eating barbecue. He\u2019s winning over Joe Rogan. He\u2019s challenging his opponent to mano-a-mano televised faceoffs.<\/p>\n
James Talarico is determined not to let his GOP challenger Ken Paxton\u2019s and Republicans\u2019 attacks on his masculinity define him in what has emerged as one of the party’s loudest tactics in the crucial Senate race.<\/p>\n
The Texas Democrat is working to position himself as a candidate focused on issues he says men actually care about instead of speculation about his diet, sexuality and religious beliefs.<\/p>\n
“They’ve even called me a vegan, and those are fighting words in the state of Texas,” Talarico said at a San Antonio rally this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cNowadays our culture tells young men that greatness is tearing other people down, is trolling and owning and dominating. But my dad showed me what real greatness looks like. He inspired me to serve,\u201d Talarico said at another rally in Houston, referencing how his dad often mowed the lawn of his elderly widowed neighbor without asking.<\/p>\n
Talarico\u2019s attempt to reclaim the masculinity narrative by confronting the issue head-on could help propel him to flip a seat Democrats haven\u2019t held in nearly four decades, and which could determine control of the Senate next year.<\/p>\n
It comes as both parties, in Texas and across the U.S., are fighting to win male voters \u2014 especially young<\/a>, Black or Hispanic<\/a> men \u2014 who in 2024 lurched to the right to help Republicans take control of the White House and Congress. The issue of masculinity has also been turbo-charged during Donald Trump\u2019s second term, with the president hosting UFC fights on the White House lawn and his<\/a> Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pushing for testosterone testing<\/a> in the military.<\/p>\n If Talarico prevails, he could ultimately serve as a model for other Democratic candidates to connect with male voters or fend off Republicans who try to use issues of masculinity as a cudgel.<\/p>\n \u201cDemocrats need to be prepared for more of these attacks to come and understand how to handle them,\u201d Lucas Holtz, a senior political adviser at the centrist think tank Third Way, said in an interview.<\/p>\n Republicans think they\u2019ve hit a nerve with Texas voters about Talarico\u2019s manhood. Members of the party have targeted the 37-year-old public school teacher-turned-state legislator for past statements endorsing a vegan lifestyle<\/a>, suggesting that \u201cGod is nonbinary\u201d and opposing legislation that erodes transgender rights.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at him, this is a guy who\u2019s publicly stated pretty bizarre things \u2014 that God is nonbinary,\u201d said Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) in an interview. \u201cHe\u2019s a total weirdo, and I think Texas voters recognize that.\u201d<\/p>\n Talaricosaid recently<\/a> his comment on God’s gender was meant to be “deliberately provocative” and that he meant God is beyond gender.<\/p>\n Republicans are also seizing on Talarico\u2019s unmarried status and smaller physical build to paint the Democratic candidate as weak and effeminate. Some have falsely called him gay<\/a> or transgender<\/a>. Paxton\u2019s very first ad<\/a> of the general election campaign implied Talarico has low testosterone levels. And a conservative PAC released an AI-generated video of Talarico as an actress from \u201cThe Sound of Music\u201d singing about wanting to give hormones to children.<\/p>\n Talarico opposes gender affirming care for minors, his spokesperson JT Ennis said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Texas, there\u2019s a certain level of tough guy-ness that we all pretend to have in ourselves, and that we like in our elected officials,\u201d said Vinny Minchillo, a Texas-based Republican admaker who is not involved in the race. \u201cIf you push that the right direction, that especially does not sit well with Hispanic men and Black men.\u201d<\/p>\n Paxton\u2019s campaign and his allies think Talarico\u2019s previous comments on these issues put him out of touch with voters in both parties.<\/p>\n \u201cTexans can spot an audition for a new identity and they know he is weak and woke on core Texas values,\u201d Paxton adviser Nick Maddux said in a statement. Maddux pointed to moves Talarico has made during the campaign he said shows flip-flopping, such as wearing a Texas flag shirt after calling the American flag a \u201ccomplicated symbol.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe is undoubtedly hurting Democrats,\u201d Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said in an interview about Talarico.<\/p>\n Some Hill Democrats say Republicans\u2019 fixation on Talarico\u2019s manhood is an attempt to distract from Paxton\u2019s weaknesses.<\/p>\n \u201cThey fear his strength, especially since he\u2019s running against the most notorious scumbag in American politics,\u201d Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) said.<\/p>\n Paxton has faced an ethics complaint<\/a> that was later dropped, a Justice Department corruption investigation<\/a> for which he was not charged and securities fraud charges which were ultimately dismissed in an agreement<\/a>. He was also impeached by the Texas GOP-led House for bribery and abusing his public office, which he called<\/a> a \u201csham\u201d coordinated by liberals, and was later acquitted by the Texas Senate.<\/p>\n Paxton also has a history of using cultural issues to his advantage, such as stoking anti-Muslim fears through campaign messaging<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Talarico\u2019s campaign says they\u2019re not seeing evidence that the masculinity barbs are gaining traction, pointing to robust Democratic<\/a> gains among<\/a> Hispanic voters<\/a> while also arguing that polling shows a toss-up general election<\/a> contest. The campaign did not share specific data to support that its messaging to male voters was lifting Talarico\u2019s polling with that demographic.<\/p>\n Talarico has focused on issues he says affect many men \u2014 like lowering housing costs, stopping corporate landlord rent manipulation and curbing the influence of billionaire mega-donors in politics.<\/p>\n \u201cKen Paxton is picking these fights no one cares about to distract from the fact that he has no solutions to lower the cost of gas, groceries, or healthcare,\u201d Ennis said in a statement. \u201cReal men serve others, weak men serve themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Talarico also has tried to appeal to young men and Hispanic voters by placing ads during World Cup<\/a> and NBA Finals<\/a> games. And he\u2019s challenging Paxton to a series of televised debates, in which the two could spar on manhood and other issues. Paxton\u2019s team said he\u2019s agreed to the debates but they\u2019re still negotiating logistics and terms.<\/p>\n The Democrat\u2019s campaign also said it is trying to facilitate similar opportunities to Talarico\u2019s pivotal appearance on Joe Rogan\u2019s podcast last year, which boosted his national profile to millions of young men who make up Rogan\u2019s core audience. The podcaster \u2014 who during the interview exclaimed<\/a> \u201cyou need to run for president,\u201d to Talarico \u2014 has continued to compliment the Texas Democrat and defend his views, including during a conversation<\/a> with Vice President JD Vance last month.<\/p>\n Talarico has also fired back with his own jabs. He responded to Paxton calling him \u201cTalafreako\u201d by putting the phrase on T-shirts and selling them on his campaign website.<\/p>\n And Talarico turned on Paxton\u2019s low-testosterone message by telling MS NOW \u201cI don\u2019t think guys my age are really concerned about that kind of thing,\u201d adding, \u201cYou\u2019ve got these old guys lathered up in their fake tans throwing cheesy nicknames at each other.”<\/p>\n Some public opinion research shows Talarico\u2019s strategy fits the 2026 moment.<\/p>\n The growing cost-of-living crisis \u2014 exacerbated by the deeply unpopular military conflict in Iran \u2014 and Trump\u2019s low approval ratings may mean the GOP\u2019s masculinity attacks fall flat this cycle, Luke Warford, founder and director of Texas Public Opinion Research<\/a>, a nonpartisan public opinion research firm, said in an interview.<\/p>\n The top issues for men and young men in Texas center on affordability, the cost of living, economic growth and job creation, according to an aggregate of data shared with POLITICO from the group\u2019s latest surveys in May and June.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve got a really different scenario now where the Republicans are in power in Texas and nationally, so they own the things that are broken,\u201d Warford said. \u201cThere is a deep anti-establishment sentiment in this country and a deep frustration with the status quo particularly among men, and that could be a much stronger political force than the cultural attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n Matt Angle, founder of the Lone Star Project, a Democratic-aligned political action committee in Texas, said \u201cthere\u2019s no attack that should be ignored,\u201d but that Democrats are in a good position.<\/p>\n \u201cKen Paxton is no he-man. He\u2019s a thin-chested, soft spoken, weak guy,\u201d Angle said.<\/p>\n One warning sign for Talarico: a swath of male voters perceive him as too progressive, said Holtz, the Third Way adviser. Holtz noted a recent poll of men by the group in which 49 percent of respondents said the candidate was \u201ctoo far left.\u201d<\/p>\n