TEXAS — Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico launched his first general election television advertisement on Thursday, June 6, 2024. The Spanish-language advertisement will air on Telemundo.
The advertisement, which is 30 seconds long, will broadcast during group stage matches featuring the U.S. and Mexico national soccer teams. The initial broadcast took place during the Mexico versus South Africa match on Thursday. Subsequent airings are scheduled for the U.S. versus Paraguay match on Friday, June 7, the Mexico versus South Korea match on June 18, the U.S. versus Australia match on June 19, the Mexico versus Czechia match on June 24, and the U.S. versus Turkey match on June 25.
Talarico's campaign stated the advertising campaign costs more than $800,000. Neither Talarico nor his opponent, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, had purchased general election television advertisements prior to this placement. Talarico defeated U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary election in March.
The advertisement identifies Talarico as a former teacher and public education advocate. It also states that Talarico plans to protect Social Security and Medicare, and proposes increasing taxes on billionaires. Talarico will face Paxton in the general election. Talarico said, "Since the beginning of this campaign, I've pledged to be a senator that represents all 31 million Texans, including the nearly 8 million Texans who speak Spanish." He added, "Building a movement to take power back for working people requires uniting together on one team to take power back for ourselves and our communities."
A June survey conducted by Texas A&M University, the Siena Research Institute, and ReconMR found Talarico leading Paxton by 12 percentage points among Latino voters. The survey also recorded an 11-point net favorability rating for Talarico among Latino voters, while Paxton had a 12-point net unfavorability rating among the same demographic. VoteHub estimates that Latino voters accounted for approximately 24 percent of ballots cast in the state during the 2024 general election. Republican candidates gained a larger share of the Latino vote in South Texas during the 2024 election cycle.
No independent assessment of James Talarico’s claims was available.