After nearly two weeks out of the public eye, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talaricois back on the campaign trail, making his return at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Talarico's campaign shared a video on Friday, Oct. 9, showing the candidate shaking hands, posing for photos and mingling with festivalgoers, signaling his return to public appearances after battling the flu.
His appearance comes after a nearly two-week absence that fueled speculation on social media and drew criticism from President Donald Trump and his Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who publicly questioned the Democrat's whereabouts.
James Talarico is at ACL Weekend 2 🤩 pic.twitter.com/MmKEsUUFyX
— Team Talarico (@TeamTalaricoHQ) October 9, 2026
Talarico had not held an in-person campaign
event in Texas since Sept. 26, but his campaign maintained that he had been sidelined by the flu and was expected to return to the campaign trail this weekend.
Paxton was quick to respond to the appearance at the music festival in Austin in an Oct. 9 post on X.
"James Talarico skipped out on the Hispanic business leaders, canceled on the Central Texas African American Civic Engagement Symposium, and tried to pass off old content as new. He doesn’t get to reappear like nothing happened after ghosting the 31 million Texans he wants to represent for two weeks,." Paxton wrote.
"The “flu” didn’t stop him from meeting with New York billionaires and Hollywood elites, or from partying with celebrities at a music festival most working Texans don’t have the luxury of attending, especially after taking two weeks off work. Must be nice after two weeks of PTO," Paxton continued.
James Talarico vs Ken Paxton polls
A new UMass Lowell/YouGov poll, released Oct. 8, shows RepublicanKen Paxton and Democrat James Talarico tied at 45%, with 7% of respondents undecided.
Here's what September and October polls showed:
- YouGov poll (Oct. 6) — Talarico 50%, Paxton 44%.
- Emerson College (Sept. 17) — Talarico 47%, Paxton 46%.
- The New York Times (Oct. 3) — Talarico 51%, Paxton 45%.
- Fox News (Oct. 1) — Talarico 51%, Paxton 49%.
- Big Data Poll (Sept. 27) — Talarico 47%, Paxton 45%.
- Marist Poll (Sept. 23) — Talarico 50%, Paxton 44%.
- Texas Southern University (Sept. 22) — Talarico 47%, Paxton 46%.
- ReconMR Texas Poll (Sept. 17) — Talarico 49%, Paxton 43%.
Natassia Paloma may be reached at npaloma@gannett.com, @NatassiaPaloma on X, natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma on Facebook.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Must be nice’: Paxton reacts as Talarico resurfaces at ACL Fest
