Democrat James Talarico Hires Top Staffer From Republican John Cornyn

AP Photo/Eric Gay

Texas State Rep. James Talarico (D) has hired a top staffer from the office of the Senate Republican he hopes to replace, a move political commentators viewed as strategically savvy to help him win over independent and crossover GOP voters.

The incumbent Republican, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), lost a viciously contentious primary to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who scored President Donald Trump’s endorsement but is widely viewed as a weaker candidate in the general election due to a series of scandals, lawsuits, a messy and contentious divorce, and other controversies.

Talarico, the Democratic nominee, has had a slight lead in a series of recent polls. Past Democrats running statewide in the Lone Star State like former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) have polled better than they performed on Election Day, but numerous commentators have noted Paxton’s flaws as a candidate and the downward drag of Trump and the GOP’s poor polling on key issues like immigration and the economy to predict that Talarico may in fact have a chance.

Earlier this month, Nate Silver released his updated forecast for the November midterms and rated Texas as “Lean D,” designating it as one of his top picks to flip blue.

Key to Talarico’s path to victory will be not just turning out the Democratic voter base, but peeling away as many independents and Republicans who have soured on Paxton as possible. A Democrat has not won a major statewide race in Texas since singing along to Prince’s “1999” was still about a date in the future.

Talarico’s campaign scored a key hire that may help in their cross-the-aisle outreach. NOTUS reported on Monday that Jacob Smith, one of Cornyn’s staffers, was joining the campaign as a deputy policy director.

Smith spent the last five years serving as the deputy legislative director and then policy adviser for Texas’ senior senator. He has also worked as a legislative aide for Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and for Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) on the House Science Committee.

Smith confirmed he was joining the campaign in a statement provided to NOTUS, and took a swipe at Paxton:

“I’ve worked for Republicans like Senator Cornyn my entire career, but this year I’m proud to be joining James Talarico’s campaign. Instead of playing partisan politics, Talarico speaks to the needs of everyday people who day in and day out work too hard for too little. In the Senate, James will fight to lower costs for all 31 million Texans, whether they’re Republicans, Democrats, or independents, so that Texans of all ages have a fighting chance at the American Dream of starting a family, owning a home, and leaving a little behind for their children.

Ken Paxton is the most corrupt, self-dealing politician in Texas who would sell their futures to the highest contributor just to hold onto power. I’m encouraging all my fellow Republicans who know Ken Paxton is unfit to serve in the Senate to finally hold him accountable at the ballot box.

One Republican campaign operative who has worked on other Senate races told NOTUS it was “unheard of” for a GOP staffer to join a Democratic Senate campaign.

Mediaite reached out to Cornyn for comment, and he called Smith’s move a “personal decision by Jacob” without further comment. Cornyn has previously said he would “support the Republican ticket” in November but has also noted Talarico’s strong polling against Paxton, telling Mediaite in early July, “I’m not gonna say I told you so, but” the polling was “ominous for down ballot races.”

Veteran Florida Democratic consultant Steve Schale reacted to the news of Talarico putting a Republican staffer in a top job by posting, “I love this move.”

Reached for comment by text, Schale added, “They can’t win on Dem vote alone, so one of the key things Talarico must do is send a message to Republicans that it’s ok to do what they aren’t used to doing: voting for a Republican, and the more Republican leaders they can find to speak out against Paxton, the more rank and file GOP voters will feel comfortable bucking their own party.”

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