Democrat James Talarico has raised more than $70 million during his campaign, according to FEC filings. Credit: Instagram/@thedemocrats

Weeks after a joint ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigation accused Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton of committing voter fraud, a right-wing news blog is flipping the script and alleging his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, is actually the one breaching election laws.

However, documents obtained by the Current suggest that’s not the case. What’s more, Talarico’s campaign argued the report by conservative news site The Federalist is the latest attempt to smear him as he gains ground in the race for Texas open U.S. Senate seat.

On Tuesday, The Federalist accused Talarico, a Texas House member, of violating state election law during his 2022 campaign to represent House District 50, the Austin-area seat he still holds.

The article reports that Talarico changed his voter registration to his mother’s house in December 2021 so he could run in the district, which is more friendly to Democrats. If true, that would appear to violate the Texas Constitution, which requires House candidates to live in the district they want to represent for at least a year. Since the election was held in November 2022, Talarico would be one month short of the requirement.

However, documents obtained by the Current show Talarico changed the address on his voter registration documents and U.S. Postal Service address to the 50th District on Nov. 5, 2021 — 368 days before the election.

“Ken Paxton was caught committing voter fraud six times by the Texas Tribune and literally ran away from reporters when asked about it,” Talarico campaign spokesman JT Ennis said in a statement. “Now he’s peddling baseless accusations against James that have been proven false. What’s next? Is Ken Paxton going to claim James accepted a $275k bribe last month in exchange for a favor, was indicted for securities fraud, and was impeached by his own party? No, that’s Ken Paxton.”

During his Senate campaign, Paxton — currently Texas’ Attorney General — has been dogged by scandals including accusations or bribery leveled former allies, a state securities fraud indictment and near removal from his office by the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature.

In a phone call with the Current, officials with Talarico’s campaign speculated that the Federalist’s December timeline may stem from a processing delay the Democrat experienced with his 2022 address change. Voter registrations in Texas take up to 30 days to show up as active in the state’s system from the time they’re filed, according to a campaign statement.

Regardless, the actual filing date of Nov. 5, 2022, is what actually matters under Texas law, campaign officials added.

The apparent timeline discrepancy didn’t stop Republican operatives from widely sharing The Federalist’s article. Nor did it stop Paxton’s campaign from accusing his rival, a Presbyterian seminarian and former San Antonio schoolteacher, of shady behavior.

“It is absolutely disgusting that James Talarico used his mother’s address to not only commit voter fraud, but also to defraud his entire constituency, all so he could run in a safe Democrat seat,” Paxton campaign spokeswoman Madison Cercy said in a statement. “He is a lying politician who has been deceiving voters throughout his time in office, so it should come as no shock that he continues his flip-flop tour across the state of Texas.”

Beyond the timeline concerns Talarico’s campaign raised, it also took issue with The Federalist’s claim —based on unnamed sources — that there was no evidence the Democratic candidate lived at his mother’s home during his 2022 campaign.

However, a U-Haul receipt reviewed by the Current shows Talarico rented a moving truck on Nov. 5 in Round Rock. His campaign maintained he moved into his mother’s residence that same day.

Talarico, who’s leading Paxton by 5 points in a poll released earlier this week by Texas Public Opinion Research, will be in San Antonio Thursday to visit with labor unions and promote proposed federal law the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...