By C. Douglas Golden October 9, 2026 at 7:48am
Texas Democratic senatorial nominee James Talarico may be temporarily sidelined from the campaign trail, but his campaign has a surprising new surrogate: Willie Nelson.
Nelson, the 93-year-old outlaw country legend with a sideline in leftist activism, posted a short video in favor of the upstart state representative and Presbyterian seminarian, calling him “a good man” and a friend.
“Hi, this is Willie Nelson. I’ve gotten to know James Talarico,” Nelson said in the clip.
“He’s a good man who will be a good senator for the state of Texas. Please vote, and vote for James Talarico,” he added.
BREAKING: @WillieNelson endorses James Talarico:
“I’ve gotten to know James Talarico. He’s a good man, who will be a good senator for the state of Texas. Please vote and vote for James Talarico.“ https://t.co/FD2nYpVrSU
— Team Talarico (@TeamTalaricoHQ) October 8, 2026
The Thursday post garnered well over a million views in what might the nation’s most closely watched Senate race.
Is James Talarico’s absence from the campaign trail a significant concern for Texas voters?
Nelson has also endorsed other Texas Democratic candidates, including gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa and lieutenant governor candidate Vikki Godwin.
In addition, the Houston Chronicle reported, Nelson’s endorsement was intended as a springboard for the launch of Rural Texans for Talarico, an initiative to try and broaden the Democratic nominee’s reach into the state’s heavily red countryside.
The initiative, the Chronicle said, will be “focusing on data centers, recruiting and retaining health care workers and internet access.”
However, it comes as Talarico’s campaign is facing concerns over their candidate’s absence from the trail.
With less than a month left in the race, Talarico has been sidelined for 12 days, leading many to ask where he’s hiding.
At an event on Wednesday in San Antonio, CNN reported, his opponent — Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton — led the crowd in a chant of “Where is James Talarico?”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has also jumped into the fray, saying that the man he’s dubbed “James Talafreako” is “MISSING IN ACTION.”
Talarico and his campaign insisted that the candidate has been recovering from a bad case of the flu.
“I was starting to feel kind of under the weather a few days ago and last night it got so bad that I went to the urgent care here in Dallas, and I was diagnosed with the flu,” Talarico said in a virtual appearance on Sept. 30.
“I’m running a fever, and I’m at my most contagious right now, and I guess I’ve been shaking too many hands on the campaign trail and so I want to keep everybody safe.”
His last in-person appearance was on Sept. 26.
“James looks forward to being back out this weekend after recovering from the flu,” said campaign spokesman JT Ennis.
“It’s been 83 days since James challenged Ken Paxton to come out of hiding and answer Texans’ question in a debate, which even President Trump called on him to do last night. Ball is in Paxton’s court.”
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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he’s written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he’s written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture
