State Rep. James Talarico took aim at his two prospective opponents in the Texas election for the U.S. Senate later this year, claiming they are both "extraordinarily weak."
Speaking to Politico after beating Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary, Talarico voiced confidence about his chances of beating incumbent either Republican Sen. John Cornyn or Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who will face each other in a runoff in May after neither managed to get more than 50% of the vote.
"I think both of them are extraordinarily weak," he told the outlet. ""Paxton and Cornyn, they're different. Paxton was guilty of illegal corruption. That's why my colleagues and I impeached him in the Texas House. But Cornyn is guilty of legalized corruption. He was the deciding vote on the Big, Ugly, Bill which kicked millions of Texas off their health care, took food out of the mouths of hungry Texas kids all to give tax breaks to his donors," he claimed.
The Associated Press called the race as Talarico had over 53% of the vote, compared to Crockett's 45.5%, according to the Texas Secretary of State's Office. Should he win the election, he would become the first Democratic senator in the state since 1988.
"Tonight, the people of our state gave this country a little bit of hope," Talarico told supporters at a rally on Tuesday before the race was called. "And a little bit of hope is a dangerous thing."
Talarico also said that "we are trying to fundamentally change our politics, and it's working." He outperformed his opponent with White and Hispanic voters, while Crockett won among Black voters.
The months before the runoff between Paxton and Cornyn promise to be heated. The two have traded barbs over the past weeks, with Cornyn saying on Tuesday that he refuses to "allow a flawed, self-centered and shameless candidate like Ken Paxton to risk everything we've worked so hard to build over these many years." "There is simply too much at stake in this midterm election for our state and for our country."
Cornyn's performance was better than expected, getting over 42% of the vote, compared to Paxton's 40.9%. Rep. Wesley Hunt got 13.2% of the support.
Paxton, in turn, took aim at Cornyn, accusing him of working closely with Democrats while in office, including on gun control legislation. "For too long he sold us out to Democrats," he said.
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