Texas State Rep. James Talarico (D-50th District) vanished from the campaign trail for nearly two weeks during the most critical stretch of the Texas Senate race, and his campaign's explanation that he had the flu still doesn't add up.
Democrats and their allies in the media would love to close the book right there and dismiss every lingering question as a right-wing conspiracy theory. The problem is, some of the loudest skeptics come from the left.
The timeline alone raised eyebrows. Talarico's last public campaign appearance in Texas came on Sept. 26, followed by a private fundraiser in New York City two days later. On Sept. 30, he appeared virtually at an event he was supposed to attend in person and announced he'd been diagnosed with the flu at a Dallas urgent care. Then he went dark while Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton barnstormed the state.
Mark Penn, who served as an adviser to Bill Clinton, weighed in during an appearance on Fox News.
"Oh, this is super odd. There's no question about that," Penn said. "These are the final days of a hundred million campaign, a major effort, one of the most key Senate races, and your candidate disappears for 12, 13 days with no clear word, no messages, no ability to kind of send out some messages, has the flu? This doesn't, this really doesn't make sense."
Former Democrat strategist Dan Turrentine blasted the campaign's handling of the situation.
"My first reaction on Sunday afternoon was that if the allegations of receiving mental help were true, the Talarico campaign would be insane to think they could hide it and deny it. Almost nothing in this day-and-age can be hidden in a major campaign," Turrentine wrote on his Substack. "But on the other hand, I was dumbfounded at, and very worried about, the lack of aggressive pushback from the candidate, his campaign, and outside Democrats."
ICYMI: Talarico FINALLY Speaks, and I Think He Just Made Things Worse
Turrentine's point makes all the sense in the world. According to the polls, Talarico is locked in a dead-even race in a deep-red state, and a Democrat in that position can't afford to let a damaging story spread unchecked for days. Yet that's exactly what his campaign allowed to happen.
Turrentine went further in a conversation with Sean Spicer on The Huddle, and his arguments make perfect sense.
"It has made me nervous still today that they have not put stuff, like, I would put my primary care physician before camera," Turrentine said. "'Yeah, he had 103-degree fever, dehydration, and we were afraid he could pass out.' Whatever. I would put the urgent care, like, receipt. Like, you probably paid for something out of pocket on your debit card, your credit card. Like, I would flood the zone to say, ‘You clowns, here is 8 million pieces.’ And the fact that they haven't today still makes me a little nervous,” he said.
"Talarico has been very blunt. The campaign's been blunt. If you're lying, it is over, and you could cost us the United States Senate," Turrentine continued. "So, I'm praying to God that everybody is being honest and true, and the Right is out of control."
Spicer acknowledged that individuals have a right to medical privacy but argued that candidates play by different rules. "But you're running for office. Obama put out his birth certificate," Spicer said.
"He could literally take a screenshot of the urgent care and say, 'You numbnuts, look at this.'"
Turrentine had another suggestion. "Put your cell phone records out. Like, that's how the New York tax authorities find out where you were," he said.
💥NEW: Ex-Dem Strategist Dan Turrentine *ADMITS* he's still "NERVOUS" about James Talarico's flu story💥 Turrentine asserted if Talarico is being dishonest, he will lose to Ken Paxton and potentially cost Democrats the Senate altogether. He noted he's particularly concerned because Talarico has failed to provide definitive proof of his whereabouts during his disappearance. Turrentine argued Talarico could simply publish receipts and put the speculation to rest. It's strange that he hasn't done so — and it makes sense Democrats would be apprehensive. Former Clinton Advisor Mark Penn also questioned Talarico's flu story. He said he never witnessed anything like Talarico's absence in the decades he worked on campaigns — and warned it would hurt his Senate bid. Talarico and Paxton are locked in a tight race with just weeks until the election. Texas hasn't elected a Democrat Senator since 1988. Democrats' dreams of a blue Texas may be evaporating.
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) October 12, 2026
Conservatives asked for proof from the start, and we got mocked for it. Paxton's campaign demanded proof of life, and the media treated it as a cheap stunt. In the end, the Talarico campaign is acting more like they’re trying to hide something, and that makes Turrentine nervous that they are lying and that it will cost his party a Senate seat they think they can win.