Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton blasted state Rep. James Talarico over lies he told in a campaign ad about his stance on taxes.
The two candidates are currently running neck and neck to replace incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in November.
“In a shocking turn of events, Talarico is lying yet again,” Paxton’s campaign said in a press release. “When the Senate cut taxes for Texas families, Talarico was against it calling the legislation ‘deeply immoral’ and said lawmakers who voted for it ‘need to pay a price at the ballot box.’”
The release further noted that Talarico voted against measures that would have resulted in, “Up to $10,700 in higher take home pay per family,” “A larger Child Tax Credit for nearly 3.7 million Texas Families,” and “A larger standard deduction benefiting more than 12 million Texas Families.”
James Talarico has never met a tax hike he didn’t like. He voted against protecting Texans from a state income tax, voted against making it harder to raise property taxes, and opposed the largest tax cut in history for Texas families.
— Paxton War Room (@PaxtonsPatriots) June 22, 2026
The bottom line: Texas families always come… pic.twitter.com/Xyx09C8i1x
The Talarico campaign released the ad on Monday. The ad shows the candidate walking out of a local grocery store. “Too many Texans feel like they're drowning. The cost of groceries, gas, healthcare,” he said.
The candidate further boasts about bringing “both parties together to make life more affordable” and that he pushed for “capping the cost of insulin, cutting taxes for small businesses, and passing the largest property tax cut in Texas history.”
He promised that if he’s elected, he’ll “take on corruption and keep fighting to lower your costs.”
James Talarico's campaign just released a new ad.
— Jeff Charles, Asker of Questions🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) June 22, 2026
"I brought both parties together to make life more affordable. Capping the cost of insulin, cutting taxes for small businesses, and passing the largest property tax cut in Texas history."
*Yawn* pic.twitter.com/Ln8YWS5UIF
A Paxton spokesperson said Talarico’s ad “is just the latest chapter in James Talarico’s never-ending saga of lies” and that the candidate “has never met a tax hike he didn’t like.”
“This new ad is just the latest chapter in James Talarico’s never-ending saga of lies. Texans shouldn’t believe a word of it. Talarico has never met a tax hike he didn’t like,” said a spokesperson for Ken Paxton for Senate. “He voted against protecting Texans from a state income tax, voted against making it harder to raise property taxes, opposed the largest tax cut in history for Texas families, and tried to drive away 475,000 jobs in the oil and gas industry.”
Talarico’s record reveals that the last thing Talarico cares about is affordability. He has consistently voted against tax relief for Texans.
In 2019, Texas lawmakers took up House Joint Resolution 38, a constitutional amendment to ban any future state income tax. The measure raised the bar so that if the government wanted to establish an income tax (Texas has none at the moment), they would have to get a two-thirds supermajority vote in both the House and Senate plus voter approval in a statewide election.
Talarico voted against the measure, but it passed anyway with more than 74 percent support and is now part of the Texas Constitution.
Senate Bill 2, known as the Texas Property Tax Reform and Transparency Act of 2019, sought to slow down increases in local property taxes while giving voters more power. It lowered the cap on how much most cities, counties, and special districts could raise property tax revenue each year without a public vote from eight percent down to 3.5 percent.
The measure added new transparency rules for appraisals as well. Needless to say, Talarico voted against it, but it still passed.
If Talarcio wants to position himself as some champion for the working class, he’ll need to explain why he has constantly voted against measures that would make life more affordable for ordinary Texans. So far, he hasn’t put his words into action.