Texas Democrat James Talarico names his favourite drag queen – and Republicans are livid
James Talarico names Alyssa Edwards as his favourite drag queen (Getty Images)
Texas Democrat James Talarico is going viral for sharing that his favourite drag queen is none other than *tongue pop* Alyssa Edwards.
And Republicans are not happy about it, calling James “too radical” for Texas.
Attorney General Ken Paxton took to X on 14 September to question James, writing: “What normal person can name their favourite drag queen this quickly?”
He added: “When James Talarico isn’t advocating for children to dress in drag, he’s watching drag performances and saying that Texas produces the best drag queens.”
“James Talarico is too weird and too radical for Texas.”
Talarico is currently running for the US Senate against Ken Paxton.
Who are Ken Paxton and James Talarico?
Paxton is the Republican Attorney General of Texas and a high-profile conservative figure in national US politics.
He has been a central player in Texas legal and political battles and has been associated with hardline positions in culture-war debates, including issues affecting LGBTQ+ Texans.
Paxton has previously used the same “weird” attack line against Talarico over trans kids, back in May 2026.
Talarico is a Texas Democratic state representative who has previously defended trans youth.
During a 9 March interview on MS NOW, formerly known as MSNBC, the politician said:
“The only thing the media wants to ask me about are trans athletes. What I would say is that the only minority destroying this country is the billionaires.”
“We are all focused on the wrong 1%. Trans people aren’t taking away our healthcare. Undocumented people aren’t defunding our schools… It’s the billionaires and their puppet politicians. And so we need not only the media, but all of us, to focus on the real problem at hand.”
However, Talarico recently reversed on his position on 9 September in an interview with FOX News, saying that he’s against trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it risks safety or fairness.
According to Newsweek, Talarico’s chances of beating Paxton in the Texas Senate race have “reached new highs” across four election and prediction trackers.
However, a Democrat has not won a statewide race in Texas in more than 30 years.
