Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico challenged Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday to a debate on Fox News, which he dubbed Paxton’s “safe space.”
Talarico has challenged Paxton to a number of debates hosted by numerous news networks for months, but Paxton has yet to agree to any. Paxton’s campaign initially said it would be willing to debate Talarico so long as the moderators were neutral. But in the weeks since, it has been silent on future debates.
“Ken Paxton is running from the fight. And that sounds like low-T behavior to me,” Talarico said during the Texas Tribune Festival. Texas Tribune Editor in Chief Matthew Watkins noted that Paxton did not respond to an invitation to speak at the festival.
Past Senate candidates in Texas have debated in high-profile races. Sen. Ted Cruz debated then-Rep. Colin Allred once during the 2024 race, and Cruz debated then-Rep. Beto O’Rourke twice in 2018. Sen. John Cornyn debated Democrat MJ Hegar once in 2020.
Paxton’s campaign and Fox News did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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The post In Texas, Talarico pitches a Fox News debate as Paxton stays silent appeared first on Washington Post.
