State of Texas: Paxton and Talarico in their own words

Paxton and Talarico put affordability, taxes and Texas priorities at center of Senate race

Provpnadvice.com – Texas voters are seeing a sharp contrast in the emerging U.S. Senate campaign between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico, with both candidates framing their messages around household costs, taxes and the direction of the state.

The divide was visible in Dallas during the Republican Party’s first midterm convention, where President Donald Trump urged attendees to support Paxton. Trump told the gathering that he planned to return to Texas during the campaign.

“I’ll be coming back to Texas because we have to elect Ken Paxton. We have to,” Trump said Wednesday.

Paxton used his own convention remarks to promote an economic package he calls the Protecting the Texas Promise plan. Introduced in late July, the proposal includes assistance aimed at first-time homebuyers, tax deductions tied to health-related spending, relief for certain medical expenses and a plan to double the child tax credit.

His pitch focused on the financial pressures facing families trying to buy a home, care for children and manage health costs. Paxton said the plan is intended to leave Texans with more money available for those needs.

“I want every Texan to be able to buy a home, raise their family, and live a healthy life. That’s why I unveiled the Protecting the Texas Promise plan to put thousands of dollars back in your pocket,” Paxton said.

Paxton highlights proposed deductions

Among the elements Paxton described was a proposed $50,000 tax deduction for a home down payment. He also pointed to a $25,000 deduction for medical expenses, along with a healthy-living deduction that would cover gym memberships, nutrition plans and doctor-prescribed GLP-1 medications.

“So what does that mean for your family? It means you can own a home with a landmark $50,000 down payment tax deduction. It means a $25,000 tax deduction for medical expenses because no family should go bankrupt just for getting sick. And it means a healthy living tax deduction for gym memberships, nutrition plans, and yes, even doctor-prescribed GLP-1’s,” Paxton explained.

Paxton also used the convention stage to attack Talarico’s record and political approach. He characterized his Democratic opponent as a democratic socialist and argued that Talarico supports tax increases affecting Texans.

“He is a democratic socialist who never met a tax increase he didn’t love. As a matter of fact, he voted to tax your income in Texas. We all love that. He wants to tax your tips. He wants to tax your overtime. And he even wants to tax your Social Security. California already has two senators. It doesn’t need a third,” Paxton said.

Talarico answers with food drive and affordability agenda

While Republican delegates gathered near downtown Dallas, Talarico held campaign events in the area designed to emphasize service and community support. His campaign’s Wednesday “Love Thy Neighbor” food drive collected more than 20,000 pounds of groceries for Texas families, he said.

Standing before donated food, Talarico linked the event to his view of public service and faith.

“I believe in servant leadership. That’s what my faith teaches me, putting others before self,” Talarico said.

Talarico rejected Paxton’s assertion that he wants broadly higher taxes for Texans. Instead, he said he supports higher taxes only for the country’s wealthiest residents while seeking tax reductions for middle-class and working-class Texans.

“I only want to raise taxes on the wealthiest people in this country, on the top 1%. I want to cut taxes for middle class and working class Texans,” Talarico said.

His affordability platform includes proposals involving tariffs, fuel taxes and health-care costs. Talarico said that repealing tariffs could lower grocery prices, while ending the federal gas and diesel taxes could immediately reduce gasoline prices by 18 cents per gallon. He also called for reversing political agreements that he said have increased health-care costs across Texas.

“Day one, we could repeal these corrupt tariffs so we can drive down grocery prices. We could repeal the federal gas tax and the federal diesel tax, which would drop the price of gas by 18 cents a gallon immediately. We could reverse these corrupt political deals that are driving up health care costs across our state,” Talarico said.

Although the candidates disagree sharply over taxes and policy, Talarico said he would seek areas of cooperation with Republicans if elected in November. He specifically named Trump, saying they could work together on housing costs and lower prescription drug prices through cheaper Canadian imports.

“I look forward to working with President Trump to deliver for the people of Texas. He and I agree on certain issues when it comes to affordability, lowering housing costs. importing cheaper drugs from Canada so that we can cut prescription drug costs. Those are areas that we agree on and I will work with the President to deliver for the people of this state,” Talarico said.

Governor’s race also enters a more direct phase

The campaign season is also intensifying in the Texas governor’s race. State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, secured the Democratic nomination for governor on March 3. The campaign of three-term Republican Gov. Greg Abbott did not mention her by name until 189 days later.

In a Tuesday morning release, Abbott’s campaign criticized Hinojosa’s voting record on transgender-related issues. The statement cited her opposition to a 2023 measure barring physicians from performing certain gender-transitioning medical procedures on minors.

“Radical Gina would rather trans your kids than protect them, educate them, or prepare them for a successful future,” Texans for Abbott Press Secretary Eduardo Leal said in a statement. “Hinojosa is a rubber stamp for the Socialist Democrats and their gender insanity,” the statement added.

With 41 days remaining before early voting begins, the campaigns are increasingly defining their opponents as well as their own priorities. For Texans, the race is becoming a test of competing arguments about who should receive tax relief, how government should address rising everyday costs and what political leadership should look like in Washington and Austin.