{"id":32222,"date":"2026-06-22T14:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T18:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=32222"},"modified":"2026-06-22T14:08:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T18:08:53","slug":"top-texas-republican-says-james-talarico-is-going-to-hell-for-sure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/06\/top-texas-republican-says-james-talarico-is-going-to-hell-for-sure","title":{"rendered":"Top Texas Republican Says James Talarico is \u201cGoing to Hell For Sure\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Left: Gage Skidmore \/ Flickr | Right: John Pesina \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Texas Republicans continue turning their ire on Senate hopeful James Talarico. This time, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick spoke out against what he frames as Talarico\u2019s blasphemous beliefs. Patrick was speaking at the state\u2019s 2026 State Convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. \u201cIt\u2019s James Talarico who decided to bring the Bible into this election. And let me tell you, that\u2019s not a Bible I\u2019ve ever read,\u201d said Patrick. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen so much blasphemy from anyone running for office. Let me tell you what, I\u2019m going to pray for that guy, because when he loses the Senate race, if he campaigns against God as he\u2019s been doing, he\u2019s going to Hell, for sure. That\u2019s what we\u2019re up against. That\u2019s the darkness. That\u2019s the light. That\u2019s why we must be one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talarico has often cited his Christian faith during his campaign, trying to brand himself as a moderate Democrat running for a Senate seat in deep red Texas. But his critics have often cited Talarico\u2019s progressive views, including statements he\u2019s made that God is non-binary and that there are 6 biological genders. Talarico has backed off some of his more controversial statements, but social media has given his critics plenty of fodder to turn to. While some have mocked Talarico as a longshot Senate hopeful, Patrick encouraged his listeners to take Talarico\u2019s campaign seriously, given his stronghold in his hometown of Austin, the bluest city in the whole state. He warned that Talarico\u2019s position in Austin give him an automatic 45% and he would only need 6 more percentage points to win. \u201cWe must stand together. We cannot lose Texas. We cannot lose this Senate race,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n

Talarico responded to Patrick\u2019s jab on X<\/a>. \u201cFor decades, Dan Patrick has sold out the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable to enrich his donors. Love feels like blasphemy when you worship power.\u201d Talarico will face off against Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom he has framed as a degenerate adulterer. Meanwhile, Talarico has earned himself more criticism after praising a self-proclaimed \u201cTransQueer Latinx\u201d theologian named Roberto Henderson-Espinoza, who uses he\/they pronouns and identifies as Mestizaje (mixed race), autistic, non-binary, transgender, and Latinx. \u201cWhen you started following me on Twitter, I couldn\u2019t contain my inner fan boy, because I read your book last year and it continues to inspire me and y\u2019all\u2019s work continues to inspire me. I told you I was a boring, straight, cis white man, and I added \u2018Presbyterian\u2019 to spice it up,\u201d Talarico told Henderson-Espinoza while appearing on the Activist Theology<\/a> podcast. \u201cMy imagination is also just limited by my own background and identity. \u201cMy whiteness, my masculinity, all those things limit my imagination about what\u2019s possible. And that\u2019s where \u2026 your book helps me do that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texas Republicans continue turning their ire on Senate hopeful James Talarico. This time, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick spoke out against what he frames as Talarico\u2019s blasphemous beliefs. Patrick was speaking at the state\u2019s 2026 State Convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. \u201cIt\u2019s James Talarico who decided to bring the Bible into…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":32225,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nTop Texas Republican Says James Talarico is \u201cGoing to Hell For Sure\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dan Patrick accuses Senate hopeful James Talarico of blasphemy as Texas faith, politics, and theology collide.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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