A Trump-aligned nonprofit is launching a six-figure ad blitz against Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico, seizing on his record and recent reversals on sex-transition procedures for minors.
According to the Daily Caller, the 15-second spot, produced with artificial intelligence, features Talafreako, as critics have dubbed Talarico, dressed as Maria from *The Sound of Music* and lampooning the classic song My Favorite Things. The parody lyrics are blunt: Boys in white dresses with blue satin sashes. Girls dosed with hormones til they grow mustaches. Changing the gender of all your offspring. These are a few of my favorite things.
The campaign is bankrolled by Citizens for Sanity (CFS), a conservative nonprofit known for hammering Democrats over what it calls woke social policies, lax border enforcement and soft-on-crime governance. CFS poured roughly $93 million into the 2022 midterm cycle, underwriting hard-hitting ads that highlighted surging crime in Democrat-run cities and the consequences of progressive criminal justice experiments.
The new Favorite Things ad leans on a viral 2023 podcast clip in which Talarico, then a rising progressive star in the Texas House, declared that, aside from his family and friends, he loved the trans children most. I love and Im just going to say this cause its on my mind I love the trans children who showed up yesterday at the state Capitol to advocate for their humanity, Talarico told actor Caroline Forbes on A Superbloom Podcast.
Democratic strategists in Texas have been working to repackage Talarico, a darling of the activist left, as a more conventional Democrat in order to broaden his appeal in a deeply red state. In a Monday interview with Texas attorney Dan Cogdell, Talarico abruptly shifted his stance, insisting he now oppose[s] gender reassignment surgeries for minors, a position at odds with his voting record.
In 2023, Talarico voted against Senate Bill 14, legislation that bars physicians from performing gender reassignment surgeries on anyone under 18, a measure widely supported by Texas Republicans and many independents. That vote has become a central exhibit for conservatives arguing that Talaricos newfound moderation is political expediency rather than principle.
The Democrat has also drawn fire for a series of provocative cultural and theological claims that place him far outside the mainstream of Texas voters. On the Texas House floor, he asserted that God is non-binary, claimed there are many more than two biological sexes in fact, there are six, and later offered a biblical defense of abortion on the Joe Rogan show, despite being a self-described Christian pastor.
From the pulpit, Talarico has referred to women as neighbors with a uterus and declared that our trans community needs abortion care, too, rhetoric that resonates with progressive activists but alienates many religious and pro-life Texans. In a May CBS interview, he partially walked back his earlier theological provocation, saying he was being intentionally provocative when he described God as non-binary.
CFS Senior Advisor Gene Hamilton, who served as Deputy White House Counsel under President Donald Trump, framed Talarico as emblematic of a Democratic Party captured by fringe ideology. James Talafreako might be Democrats new fresh face, but hes singing a very different tune than most Texans. Voting against the parental bill of rights, bolstering the trans agenda, and claiming that Jesus was a radical feminist thats not in line with America, and its definitely not in line with Texas. Rejecting the weirdest candidate in politics will be an easy choice for voters in November, Hamilton told the Daily Caller in a statement.
CFS says its ad buy is designed to reinforce a broader Republican effort to contrast Talaricos out-of-touch positions with the common sense agenda of his Trump-endorsed opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. By highlighting Talaricos own words on gender ideology, abortion and theology, conservatives hope to make the race a referendum on cultural radicalism versus traditional values.
Transgender policy has already proven to be a potent wedge issue in the 2024 cycle, particularly among working-class and minority voters who may lean Democrat economically but recoil from progressive social engineering. During the presidential race, Trumps team aired an ad telling voters that former Vice President Kamala Harris was for they/them, but the now-president was for you, a pointed jab at identity politics and pronoun activism.
A leaked draft of the Democratic National Committees post-mortem on Harris failed campaign underscored how damaging that line of attack became. The autopsy notes that Trumps attack ad focused on the Vice Presidents prior statements on transgendered Americans was very effective, according to pollsters, a warning sign for Democrats now trying to sell Talaricos record in a state where voters have repeatedly rejected the lefts social agenda.
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