In Texas’ high-stakes Senate race, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has turned down an offer from CNN to debate his Democratic opponent, state Rep. James Talarico.
Paxton campaign adviser Nick Maddux said in a statement, “No Texan wants to watch James Talarico and two of his fellow far-left activists posing as moderators spew left-wing talking points in a ’debate,’ or what they would try to turn into a CCP-style struggle session,” per a CBS 11 reporter.
He called the debate proposal a “stunt.”
Mr. Talarico accepted CNN’s debate invitation before its Wednesday evening deadline. He said in a statement regarding the debate proposal, “Ken Paxton has refused to debate his opponents for more than a decade.”
With two months left until Election Day, the candidates do not have a debate scheduled, although Mr. Paxton has said he wishes to debate.
Mr. Paxton became the Republican Senate nominee after defeating incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the primary with the endorsement of President Trump.
A longtime ally of the president, Mr. Paxton has served as Texas’ attorney general since 2015.
The Texas House of Representatives impeached him on corruption charges in 2023, but he was ultimately acquitted by the state Senate.
Mr. Talarico has been an effective fundraiser, raising almost $70 million as of the end of June.
The Cook Political Report, a political forecaster, rates the race a toss-up, and Mr. Talarico has led Mr. Paxton in multiple polls.
Texas, however, has not elected a Democratic senator since 1988, and the state favored Mr. Trump by almost 14 points in 2024.
Democrats need to net four additional Senate seats to gain control of the chamber.
Mr. Paxton says Mr. Talarico is too left-wing to represent the conservative state in Washington, pointing to his previous statements in favor of reducing meat consumption and referring to God as “nonbinary.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Talarico has criticized Mr. Paxton’s performance as attorney general, running an ad calling him “the most corrupt politician in Texas.”
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