Despite Governor Greg Abbott’s main opponent for reelection being Democrat Gina Hinojosa, Senate nominee James Talarico is reportedly the focus of his attention. This made some Texas voters concerned, as they believed that Hinojosa’s campaign would likely fail to elect her as governor.
According to Dallas News, Abbott and his GOP allies see Talarico as the major threat in November. The Senate candidate has raised over $70 million for his campaign, and his high voter turnout is seen as a major threat to Republican candidate and Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Meanwhile, Abbott’s campaign is largely ignoring Hinojosa. As revealed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s chief strategist, Dave Carney: “We don’t talk about her. We don’t think about her. We don’t care about her.” Part of that is also likely because Abbott has much more money for his campaign than Hinojosa. He currently has $67 million in campaign funds, compared with his opponent’s $3 million.
Texans React to Talarico’s Popularity and Abbott’s Statements
On Reddit’s r/Texas, locals generally agreed with Abbott’s sentiment. One user even said that this was “mainly because the median Texas voter actually knows who James Talarico is.” Someone else said: “Makes sense. Talarico will bring more people to the polls than Hinojosa. When they get there, most of them will vote Democrat down the ticket.”
Some likely Democratic voters were concerned about Hinojosa’s campaign: “Gina’s team should do WAY more in trying to get voters. I barely see any ads from her campaign.” This led others to explain: “There’s no funding happening there. Her campaign has some $6 million to work with. (…) She’ll also have to hope on support from PACs who may not necessarily back her but do mean to see Abbott out of office.”
The general consensus among seemingly Democratic voters was: “Hinojosa is running an anemic campaign and has essentially zero chance of winning. Talarico is tied more or less for the senate seat and is running a campaign that is getting strong national attention and fundraising… Talarico is absolutely the bigger threat.”
This led others to conclude: “That’s because she isn’t going to defeat him. I’m still going to vote for her and will tell everyone else they should vote for her but the polling doesn’t show she is going to win. I want Texas to prove me wrong but I won’t be expecting it.”
With the election approaching, it’s likely that the candidates will ramp up their campaigns, and James Talarico will probably remain one of the most well-known names until then.
