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MAGA is Ruining Texas

Ken Paxton Released an AI Video of James Talarico Giving a Speech He Never Gave. Paxton Appears at the End to Say He Approved the Message.

Ken Paxton Released an AI Video of James Talarico Giving a Speech He Never Gave. Paxton Appears at the End to Say He Approved the Message.

The ad, titled 'King James,' uses an AI-generated Talarico to deliver a monologue rewriting the Bible. It stitches together fragments of his real remarks, strips their context, changes some of his words, and scripts them into a speech that does not exist. Paxton's campaign did not answer when The Advocate asked why it manufactured footage instead of using real video.

LiesLGBTQ Rights Texas

Republicans Running in 2026 Keep Manufacturing Their Opponents: A Doctored Flag, an AI Monologue, a Photoshopped Prison Uniform, and a Website Pretending to Be the Other Guy's

Greg Abbott's campaign used AI to swap an American flag for a transgender flag in a photo of his opponent talking to a child about a closed school. Ken Paxton scripted a speech his opponent never gave. Marsha Blackburn put hers in a prison jumpsuit. Cindy Hyde-Smith registered a domain in her opponent's name.

Lies IowaMississippiNorth CarolinaTennessee +2 more

Elon Musk's Super PAC Is Spending $5.1 Million on the Midterms, Almost All of It in Races With 18 Republicans on This Site. It Spent $3.7 Million of That Attacking Democrats.

America PAC has reported $5.1 million in independent spending this cycle. Eighteen Republicans with report cards on this site are the main beneficiaries — and nearly three-quarters of the money went to attack ads, not to making a case for them.

Billionaires & Big Business AlaskaArizonaCaliforniaColorado +11 more
Brandon Herrera Compared Women's Weight to Whales, Elephants and Nuclear Bombs. He Wants the Seat a Congressman Quit During a Sexual Misconduct Investigation.

Brandon Herrera Compared Women's Weight to Whales, Elephants and Nuclear Bombs. He Wants the Seat a Congressman Quit During a Sexual Misconduct Investigation.

A CNN review of Brandon Herrera's videos, podcasts and social media found years of comments mocking women's weight, looks and intelligence. He called them jokes. He is the Republican nominee in a district whose last congressman resigned during a House Ethics investigation into sexual misconduct allegations, and his opponent is a woman.

ControversyGun Safety Texas

State of the State: Texas Is 40th Overall. Greg Abbott and Texan Republicans in Congress Aren't Helping.

Texas ranks 40th of 50 on the measures we track, with the second-worst food insecurity and second-worst women's health scores in the country. Greg Abbott signed the abortion ban and the school voucher law, never expanded Medicaid, and now runs on affordability after property tax levies rose to $89.4 billion and home insurance premiums rose 79%. Here is the record, and what each of the seventeen Republicans running for reelection has been busy with.

Cost of LivingAbortionEducationHealthcareFood AssistanceData Centers & AIVoting RightsTaxes Texas
Greg Abbott Left Home Insurance Off His List of Seven Emergency Priorities. Eighteen Months Later He Says Premiums Are Up 79%.

Greg Abbott Left Home Insurance Off His List of Seven Emergency Priorities. Eighteen Months Later He Says Premiums Are Up 79%.

Abbott ordered the Texas Department of Insurance to act on home insurance costs on August 24, 2026, citing a 79% premium increase in six years. In 2025 his Legislature killed both bills that would have addressed it, insurance was not one of his seven emergency items, and it was not on his 18-item special session agenda either.

Cost of LivingBillionaires & Big Business Texas
Greg Abbott Signed the 'Largest Property Tax Cut in Texas History.' Texans' Property Tax Bills Went From $51 Billion to $89 Billion.

Greg Abbott Signed the 'Largest Property Tax Cut in Texas History.' Texans' Property Tax Bills Went From $51 Billion to $89 Billion.

Abbott's new affordability plan promises to cut property taxes in half by zeroing out school taxes on homesteads. He has been governor since 2015, and statewide property tax levies have risen from $51.2 billion to $89.4 billion on his watch. Nearly 4 in 10 homesteads already owe no school tax, and Texas's 4.1 million renters get nothing.

Cost of LivingTaxesEducation Texas