Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico appeared at the Austin City Limits Music Festival on Friday after 13 days away from in-person campaigning in Texas, an absence Republican opponent Ken Paxton had seized on to demand “proof of life.”
Talarico greeted festivalgoers and posed for photos during a roughly 15-minute visit before leaving with his campaign team. His spokesman, JT Ennis, said Talarico was “back on the campaign trail talking to voters at Austin City Limits.”
The return followed days of questions about the Democrat’s whereabouts and health. Talarico said on September 30 that he had been diagnosed with the flu after seeking urgent care in Dallas, explaining that he was running a fever and wanted to avoid spreading the illness to supporters.
“I guess I’ve been shaking too many hands on the campaign trail, and so I want to keep everybody safe,” Talarico said during a virtual appearance before the U.S. Hispanic Business Council. He had attended a fundraiser in New York City in late September. His last in-person campaign event in Texas was a September 26 press conference, and his September 30 virtual appearance was his last public appearance before Friday’s festival visit.
Paxton and his allies spent the intervening days pressing the issue. The Republican attorney general’s campaign demanded “proof of life,” circulated missing-person-style posters featuring Talarico, and questioned why a candidate seeking to represent 31 million Texans was not appearing before voters.
At a rally in San Antonio with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Paxton led the crowd in a chant asking, “Where is James Talarico?” Trump also mocked the Democrat’s absence in a social media post Thursday, questioning the length of his reported illness and promoting Paxton’s candidacy.
Talarico returned with early voting set to begin October 19 in a state Trump carried by nearly 14 percentage points in 2024.
A UMass Lowell/YouGov poll released Thursday found Talarico and Paxton tied at 45% among likely voters, with 7% undecided. The poll surveyed 850 likely Texas voters from September 18-28, before Talarico announced his flu diagnosis.
Texas Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder acknowledged that the absence had not come at an ideal time for the campaign, telling NBC News that Paxton had “caught a little bit of a break” from the absence. Scudder also said Talarico appeared to be recovering and that Democrats wanted him healthy for the final stretch.
Some of Talarico’s supporters privately expressed concerns as well. The New York Post reported that members of a Talarico volunteer group worried about the prolonged absence. One volunteer wrote that he was concerned about the candidate “losing momentum,” according to messages reviewed by the outlet.
Talarico told the New York Times on Friday that he had been home sick with “a nasty case of the flu.” He dismissed online rumors about his whereabouts, including speculation that he had been receiving mental health treatment. “Just a reminder not to believe everything you read on the internet,” he said.
Talarico said he had additional events planned in Dallas over the weekend.
