Fort Worth, Texas — A conservative voter who moved from Democrat-controlled California to Republican-led Texas is rejecting Democrat U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico’s leftism, his comments coming as the midterm race between the Democrat and state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) heats up.
Breitbart News spoke with a man named Leonard Lang during Paxton’s Come and Take It Tour at the T&P Station in downtown Fort Worth where a large crowd filled every seat in the room.
Lang told the outlet he arrived in the Lone Star State from California five years ago and began paying attention to Talarico during the primaries.
At the time, Lang explained he knew churches must address the issues the Democrat spoke about or people would be deceived.
He said Talarico was a “progressive,” noting, “Progressives make everything progressively worse.”
“They will make more government, more bureaucracy, they will make more regulation. It’s already a broken system as I’ve told you. They don’t mind. It is a mission to destroy capitalism. The progressive movement started in the 1880s and that is their mission, to destroy capitalism. And I’m a capitalist,” he stated.
Breitbart News also spoke with a woman named Michele during Paxton’s campaign stop.
When asked what she was most concerned about for the state, Michele said, “I do not want Texas to go under communism, socialism, or Sharia law. That is a huge concern of mine. I see that’s where we’re headed, and I don’t think a lot of people’s eyes are really open to the fact that how close it is.”
Michele (left) and two fellow voters at Ken Paxton campaign event in Fort Worth, Texas. Credit: Amy Furr / Breitbart News
“In Fort Worth, a lot of people don’t know what’s going on in Frisco and Allen… because in a weird way, we’re sheltered here,” she continued, adding that she feared locals believed Tarrant County would stay red.
However, Michele added, “I say yeah, but you know just go down 35 a little ways or go down 121 a little ways, there’s mosques… So I wouldn’t say it’s coming, but it’s here.”
She then said many individuals such as the far-left Talarico may or may not describe themselves as communist or socialist, and “a lot of people don’t understand what that really means, and it’s scary.”
When asked why she thought voters weren’t better informed, Michele said “They trust those in power. They trust the Talaricos. They say ‘He looks like a good ole boy. He’s a pastor, he knows what’s going on. He’s a pastor.’”
Indeed, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) on Monday questioned efforts by Talarico to moderate his liberal image in his campaign ads, per Breitbart News:
You know, I think that’s the kind of stuff that Texas voters see in James Talarico. You know, whenever they watch commercials like James Talarico trying to play into the Friday night lights feel, I think that’s what Texas voters dislike the most, because they realize that this is a guy who will take, and has taken, your most cherished traditions, your most cherished beliefs, your love for Friday night football, small town traditions, your faith, and wears them like a skin suit and then promotes policies that undermine everything that you know and love. And promotes things that will fundamentally, and in a very tangible way, make your life worse, whether it’s flooding American communities with illegal aliens or supporting a party who wants to give welfare to illegal aliens, or promoting ideas about how the Bible is pro-abortion or God is non-binary. I mean, these are bizarre things.
I think most Texans see what James Talarico, how he’s trying to portray himself and what he actually believes, and realizes these are two very different Talaricos and they’re very off-put by it.
Michele said she became conservative 10 years ago and explained how the Democrat Party and welfare state ruined the lives of members of her own family.
She told Breitbart News she was homeless with her daughter for two years and during that time went to culinary school and moved to Texas where she has a baking business.
Michele pointed out that she is much happier and more successful now than she was in California where the cost of living is high. She said being in Texas has allowed her to start building generational wealth she can pass down to her daughter.
Ken Paxton campaign event at T&P Station in Fort Worth, Texas. Credit: Amy Furr / Breitbart News
In her message to Americans as the crucial midterm elections approach, Michele encouraged people to do their own research about the candidates and also to learn about terms that are frequently heard today while reading from different sources.
“Look up words like socialism, look up words like capitalism, look up words like fascism… Take a few seconds to look up what these terms mean,” she stated.
A recent poll showed Paxton was narrowly leading Talarico in the U.S. Senate race, Breitbart News reported.
During his speech Monday evening, Paxton urged voters, “Join us in the fight. While Talarico fights for his radical agenda, we fight for faith, family, and freedom. We fight for Texas’ future. I believe this with all of my heart: The reason Texas is going to stay the reddest state in the union is because of what you all are going to do in the next few weeks.”
