Pro-Cruz PAC Launches Seven-Figure Spanish Ad Buy Against Talarico
The Truth and Courage PAC ad targets Hispanic Christians with Talarico's past remarks on God and gender. Republicans have spent little on Spanish ads in the Senate race.
A super PAC that backs Sen. Ted Cruz began a seven-figure, statewide Spanish-language ad buy on streaming platforms Friday attacking Democrat James Talarico in Texas' U.S. Senate race, The Texas Tribune reported. Cruz is not on the ballot this year. Talarico faces Republican Ken Paxton, and the same PAC spent $2 million in late August on English-language ads boosting Paxton.
What the ad says
The Truth and Courage PAC spot is aimed at Hispanic Christians. It plays clips of Talarico saying "God is nonbinary" and that there are "six biological sexes," remarks Republicans have circulated for months, and calls him a "lobo disfrazado de oveja," a wolf in sheep's clothing.
"We pray 'Our Father.' Talarico says God is non-binary," the narrator says in Spanish, according to the Tribune's translation.
Talarico's response
Talarico has called some of his past comments on social issues "cringey" and said they missed the mark. At a CNN town hall Wednesday, he said he meant that God defies human categories like gender, admitted he was being intentionally provocative, and said that as a seminary student he was still learning to make that point "in a responsible way."
The Hispanic vote
Hispanic voters may decide the race. In 2024, President Donald Trump won 11 of the 13 heavily Hispanic border counties and Cruz carried eight. Polling this cycle expects Hispanic Texans to swing back toward Democrats, the Tribune reported.
Yet Republicans have spent little in Spanish. Of nearly $240 million in Republican television, radio and digital ad spending in the Senate race, about $3.5 million, or 1.5%, has been in Spanish, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact. Democrats have spent $5.3 million on Spanish ads, about 5.4% of their total.
Words matter
A candidate who asks Christian voters for their trust should expect to answer for what he has said about God, in English or Spanish. Talarico has had a chance to explain, and voters can weigh both. Early voting begins Monday; see what is on every Texas ballot.
Hero photo: U.S. Senate Photographic Studio, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain, cropped and resized.
