James Talarico diagnosed with flu as he enters final stretch of Senate campaign

Texas Democrat James Talarico, who’s running for the U.S. Senate, has stepped off the campaign trail after coming down with the flu, his campaign confirmed to the Current on Wednesday.

The Current asked about the status of Talarico’s health after his opponent, Republican Ken Paxton, sent out press releases emphasizing the former San Antonio public school teacher’s absence from the campaign trail.

“James Talarico is asking Texans for their vote, but he can’t even be bothered to show up,” Paxton’s campaign said in a statement. “The contrast couldn’t be more clear. Ken Paxton works for Texans every single day, while Talarico hides from voters and only Texans deserve to know: Where is James Talarico?”

On Sept. 30, Talarico used Zoom to participate in an event with the U.S. Hispanic Business Council in the Rio Grande Valley, and he canceled an appearance Monday at the Central Texas African American Civic Engagement Symposium.

During his call with the U.S. Hispanic Business Council, Talarico said he had been diagnosed with the flu during a visit to an urgent care clinic in Dallas.

“I guess I’ve been shaking too many hands on the campaign trail, and so I want to keep everybody safe,” Talarico said. “The best thing to do was to put safety first and put everyone’s health first.”

In a statement to the Current, Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis said the state rep and Presbyterian seminarian will “be back on the trail soon.”

Talarico’s illness comes with less than a month before Election Day. Even so, his absence doesn’t appear to be hurting him in the polls. He leads Paxton by an average of 3.1 points, according to RealClearPolitics.​

With Texas in play, President Donald Trump will stump for Paxton and congressional candidate Carlos De La Cruz at San Antonio’s Freeman Coliseum on Wednesday evening.

Even so, it’s unclear how much Trump’s rally will help. Paxton said in a leaked audio recording that the president’s midterm RNC convention in Dallas actually hurt his poll numbers.

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