Democratic Texas Senate hopeful James Talarico has been hit with allegations that he violated the very election laws he has loudly accused his Republican opponent of breaking.
According to Mediaite, new reporting from ProPublica and another outlet found that Talarico may have violated state voting laws by repeatedly casting ballots from his parents address rather than the home where he actually lives. The investigation revealed that he voted in five elections using that outdated address, even as he positioned himself as a crusader against supposed Republican misconduct in Texas elections.
The timing is politically explosive, given Talaricos recent attacks on Texas Attorney General and Senate candidate Ken Paxton. Talarico accused his GOP rival of going on a voter fraud witch hunt while committing voter fraud the whole time, voting illegally in six elections in a row from the wrong address.
Yet the same pattern of behavior now appears to apply to Talarico himself, undermining his moral high ground and reinforcing conservative warnings about Democratic double standards on election integrity. ProPublica explained that piecing together Talaricos voting history is more difficult than it is for Paxton because Talarico, unlike the attorney general, redacts his address on Travis County voter rolls under a law allowing some officials to shield personal information. Unredacted records provided by his own campaign, however, show he listed his parents address on his voter registration in November 2021.
Records reviewed by the news organizations show that Talarico purchased a home in June 2022 but did not update his voter registration until September 2024, a gap covering multiple elections. His new address is redacted, though his campaign previously told reporters he currently lives and is registered to vote at the north Austin home he owns, a statement that raises questions about why the change took more than two years.
Texas law is clear that residents must register to vote where they actually live, a basic safeguard conservatives have long argued is essential to prevent fraud and maintain confidence in elections. Nonetheless, Talarico last week boasted to MSNBCs Lawrence ODonnell, When I get tough questions, I answer them. When Ken Paxton gets tough questions, he runs away.
But when the tough questions turned to his own conduct, Talarico went silent. His campaign declined to answer detailed inquiries from ProPublica and the partnering outlet about his residency and voting history, including when he began living at the home he purchased.
Instead, campaign spokesperson JT Ennis lashed out, telling Mediaite the scrutiny of the liberal lawmakers voting record is a lame attempt by Ken Paxton to deflect from his own hypocrisy and career of corruption. For voters who care about election integrity and equal application of the law, the episode highlights a familiar pattern: Democrats who loudly decry voter fraud when it suits their narrative, yet bristle when their own compliance with the rules comes under the microscope.
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