Democratic golden boy running for Senate makes surprise transgender admission

By NIKKI SCHWAB, CHIEF CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENT Published: 22:52, 8 June 2026 | Updated: 22:58, 8 June 2026 Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico admitted in an interview released Monday that he believes transgender surgeries for minors are a step too far.  Talarico was being interviewed by prominent Texas attorney Dan Cogdell, who previously served as an impeachment lawyer for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton - Talarico's Republican opponent in November.  Now Cogdell is supporting Talarico in the US Senate race. Cogdell admitted that he's heard 'consistent tropes' about Talarico being 'way too liberal for Texas,' and asked the Democrat to defend himself on claims that he's 'pro sex surgery for minors.'  'Well, just on that particular accusation, I oppose gender reassignment surgeries for minors,' Talarico said.  The Republican National Committee's RNC Research account was quick to point out a flurry of glowing things that Talarico has said about the trans community.  It blasted him for lying about his voting record, claiming the Democrat 'literally voted in favor of child gender mutilations.' Talarico, as a state House representative, voted against a broad-based bill that would have banned all gender affirming therapies for trans children.  Texas Senate Democratic hopeful James Talarico said in an interview released Monday that he doesn't support surgeries for transgender minors  During the 2024 presidential race, one of the Democratic National Committee's key takeaways in an autopsy report that was reluctantly released to the public last month was that nominee Vice President Kamala Harris had no response to the 'effective' anti-transgender ads supporting President Donald Trump.  The ads famously said: 'Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you.'  Republicans appear to be using the same playbook against Talarico. Top Trump White House adviser Stephen Miller even went as far as to call the Texan the Democrats' 'first transgender Senate candidate.'  Republicans are also trying to broadly imply that the Democrat isn't manly enough to be the next US senator from Texas.   Even before Paxton won the Republican runoff against incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn, he was also attempting to emasculate Talarico, dubbing him 'low T.'  The 37-year-old candidate has since revealed that he's dating his former chief of staff, Brianna Menard, and has a history of dating other state House staffers, the Daily Mail reported.  Talarico has also had to wave off a rumor that he's a vegan.  Transgender rights activists demonstrate at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas in 2023. Talarico has sided with the community politically but said in an interview that he thought surgeries on minors was a step too far  In November, Talarico faces off on the ballot against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who beat incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn in a runoff race, benefiting from a late endorsement from President Donald Trump Cogdell asked him about that as well during an episode of the Cogdell Law Uncensored podcast.  Talarico assured Cogdell that he very much eats meat.  'I'm an eighth-generation Texan. I know Ken Paxton is not from Texas, but my family's been here since it was Mexico,' the Senate hopeful said.  'So I've been eating barbecue since Ken Paxton's first indictment,' Talarico cracked.  He added, 'If the best they have is lying about me being a vegan, I feel pretty good about our chances in November.'   No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.