Talarico faces Texas voters on abortion, Gaza in CNN town hall
Texas Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate James Talarico took questions from Republican and independent voters on abortion, Israel's military campaign in Gaza and foreign aid during a televised town hall on Wednesday.
The event was co-hosted by CNN and Jubilee Media and hosted by Erin Burnett. It aired at 8 p.m. ET before an audience of Texas voters who are Democrats, Republicans and independents and intend to vote in November. Republican nominee Ken Paxton declined an invitation to appear, according to The Guardian.
Abortion drew extended discussion. Talarico spoke with Texas voter Jodi Hunt, a professor and an orthodox Catholic, at a moment when one voter said she votes exclusively on the issue of abortion. Talarico said "we can find common ground" on abortion, though he and Hunt did not ultimately agree, CNN reported.
Asked about his pro-choice stance, Talarico described the Bible as silent on abortion. He was also asked about a past remark describing God as nonbinary, which he said was intended to be provocative.
On the economy, Talarico said he wants to return to "OG capitalism" and that billionaires were destroying the country. Talarico, a Democratic state representative in Texas, is in a competitive race with Paxton to become Texas's next U.S. senator, with recent polls showing Talarico with a narrow lead.
Democrats have not won a U.S. Senate seat in Texas since the late 1980s. Talarico had been absent from the campaign trail for more than a week, which his campaign attributed to a bad case of flu. After returning last week, he denied claims that he had received treatment at a mental health facility in Ohio, saying he had never been to Ohio.
