In the final stretch of campaigning before the highly anticipated November 3 midterm election, a US Senate candidate in one of the country’s most watched races has been missing from the campaign trail for 13 days, with his staff struggling to say when he’ll be back.
James Talarico, 37, the Democrat in Texas who could be about to pull off one of the biggest political upsets in modern history by turning one of the most reliably red states in the US blue, has not been seen in about two weeks.
His campaign maintains that he came down with the flu in September.
However, his prolonged departure and the canceling of public events and private fundraisers has led to rampant speculation about what’s really going on – even among allies.
Talarico’s campaign claims he attended his last in-person event on September 29. He was last seen on a Zoom appearance on September 30 where he apologized to the Hispanic Business Council, meeting at UT Rio Grande Valley, for not being able to attend in person.
‘Just wanted to first apologize to you and the US Hispanic Business Council,’ Talarico stated while looking a little flushed.
In his last public appearance on Sept. 30, Talarico spoke with Hispanic voters via Zoom, informing them he could not attend the event in person due to having the flu
Democratic candidate for US Senate James Talarico speaks during a rally in Houston, Texas, on September 13, 2026
‘I was starting to feel under the weather a few days ago, and last night it got so bad that I went to the urgent care here in Dallas, and I was diagnosed with the flu.’
‘I’m running a fever and I’m my most contagious right now,’ he said.
A political strategist who is not involved with Talarico’s campaign told the Daily Mail that canceling public events, especially private events to raise money, at such a pivotal time was a big worry.
His absence comes at a time when polls show him in position to be the first Democrat in almost 30 years to win statewide in Texas.
‘I wanted to dismiss the rumors, but when I heard about him canceling the fundraisers, that gave me pause. It’s crunch time. No (candidate) would be turning down money right now,’ said the strategist, who has worked on both Democrat and GOP campaigns in Texas and nationwide.
Talarico’s opponent, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, claims the real number of days he’s been gone is 13.
He is demanding ‘proof of life’ from his opponent.
‘We’ve tried posters. We’ve tried a formal proof-of-life request. Now we’re asking every Texan to join the search for Jimmy,’ the Paxton campaign tweeted.
‘Call the Tala-Freak-Out Tip Line: 833-56-WYAJT (833-569-9258)
Republicans in Washington, DC are also goading him to surface.
‘We are starting to get worried about the little socialist, and are demanding: A video of James Talarico holding a newspaper dated today, the flight he took home from his New York fundraisers, which occurred on the very same night he allegedly went to an urgent care in Dallas.
‘A doctor’s note from the Dallas urgent care he allegedly visited,’ an email blasted out to reporters by the National Republican Senatorial Committee stated.
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Republican candidate for US Senate Ken Paxton (R) during a campaign rally at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas, on October 7, 2026
Paxton’s campaign has been hammering Talarico for days for being ‘missing’ claiming he’s been gone for 13 days
Talarico canceled an October 5 event with black voters in Austin
Despite Talarico’s campaign telling the Daily Mail their candidate will be back on the job this weekend, they struggled to tell us when and where.
The campaign spokesman texted: ‘will have something for you today.’
However, it’s unclear what, if any damage his hiatus will mean for voters.
An event scheduled in Austin on October 5 with black voters was among the events canceled by Talarico.
That cost the African American group $25,000 as they were unable to get money refunded for an event space that had been booked.
