{"id":2679770,"date":"2026-10-09T11:57:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T15:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/willie-nelson-endorses-talarico-in-texas-senate-race-hes-a-good-man\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T12:00:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T16:00:40","slug":"willie-nelson-endorses-talarico-in-texas-senate-race-hes-a-good-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/willie-nelson-endorses-talarico-in-texas-senate-race-hes-a-good-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Willie Nelson Endorses Talarico in Texas Senate Race: &#8216;He&#8217;s a Good Man&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwillie-nelson-endorses-talarico-in-texas-senate-race-hes-a-good-man%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2679770&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Texas democratic Senate candidate James Talarico has been largely absent from campaign events recently, prompting concerns and mock chants questioning his whereabouts. Despite health issues, he claims to have been recovering from the flu, which his campaign attributes as the reason for his absence. Simultaneously occurring, high-profile endorsements, including one from Willie Nelson, have brought national attention to his campaign. Nelson endorsed Talarico via a video,praising him as a good man and urging voters to support him,which has significantly boosted the campaign&#8217;s visibility. The endorsement also aims to expand Talarico\u2019s outreach to rural Texas voters through a new initiative focused on infrastructure and healthcare.However, critics and opponents continue to challenge Talarico\u2019s absence from the trail as the election approaches with less than a month remaining.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Texas Democratic senatorial nominee James Talarico may be temporarily sidelined from the campaign trail, but his campaign has a surprising new surrogate: Willie Nelson.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-stars-from-willie-nelson-to-anna-wintour-donate-to-2020-dems\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nelson<\/a>, the 93-year-old outlaw country legend with a sideline in leftist activism, posted a short video in favor of the upstart state representative and Presbyterian seminarian, calling him \u201ca good man\u201d and a friend.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHi, this is Willie Nelson. I\u2019ve gotten to know James Talarico,\u201d Nelson said in the clip.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a good man who will be a good senator for the state of Texas. Please vote, and vote for James Talarico,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">BREAKING: @WillieNelson endorses James Talarico:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve gotten to know James Talarico. He\u2019s a good man, who will be a good senator for the state of Texas. Please vote and vote for James Talarico.\u201c https:\/\/t.co\/FD2nYpVrSU<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Team Talarico (@TeamTalaricoHQ) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TeamTalaricoHQ\/status\/2108171220264882468?\">October 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Thursday post garnered well over a million views in what might the nation\u2019s most closely watched Senate race.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-grammy-week-events-begin-with-salute-to-willie-nelson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nelson<\/a> has also endorsed other Texas Democratic candidates, including gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa and lieutenant governor candidate Vikki Godwin.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/entertainment\/music\/article\/willie-nelson-james-talarico-endorsement-senate-22466718.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Houston Chronicle<\/a> reported, Nelson\u2019s endorsement was intended as a springboard for the launch of Rural Texans for Talarico, an initiative to try and broaden the Democratic nominee\u2019s reach into the state\u2019s heavily red countryside.<\/p>\n<p>The initiative, the Chronicle said, will be \u201cfocusing on data centers, recruiting and retaining health care workers and internet access.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, it comes as Talarico\u2019s campaign is facing concerns over their candidate\u2019s absence from the trail.<\/p>\n<p>With less than a month left in the race, Talarico has been sidelined for 12 days, leading many to ask where he\u2019s hiding.<\/p>\n<p>At an event on Wednesday in San Antonio, <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2026\/10\/08\/politics\/james-talarico-campaign-trail-paxton-texas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CNN<\/a> reported, his opponent \u2014 Republican state Attorney General <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ken-paxton-shuts-alleged-chinese-birth-tourism-center-ahead-race-talarico\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ken Paxton<\/a> \u2014 led the crowd in a chant of \u201cWhere is James Talarico?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/abc-news-targets-trump-family-immediately-delete-false-story-off-billions-dollars\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">President Donald Trump<\/a> has also jumped into the fray, saying that the man he\u2019s dubbed \u201cJames Talafreako\u201d is \u201cMISSING IN ACTION.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Talarico and his campaign insisted that the candidate has been recovering from a bad case of the flu.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was starting to feel kind of 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,\u201d Talarico said in a virtual appearance on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m running a fever, and I\u2019m at my most contagious right now, and I guess I\u2019ve been shaking too many hands on the campaign trail and so I want to keep everybody safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His last in-person appearance was on Sept. 26.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJames looks forward to being back out this weekend after recovering from the flu,\u201d said campaign spokesman JT Ennis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been 83 days since James challenged Ken Paxton to come out of hiding and answer Texans\u2019 question in a debate, which even President Trump called on him to do last night. Ball is in Paxton\u2019s court.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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The 93-year-old country icon and activist shared a brief video endorsing Talarico, praising him as \u201ca good man\u201d and a friend<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2679771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Michael-Featured-Image-1434.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[86971,39035,68501,44928,86970],"class_list":["post-2679770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-campaign-political","tag-political-endorsement","tag-talarico","tag-texas-senate","tag-willie-nelson"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Michael-Featured-Image-1434.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2679770"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2679773,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679770\/revisions\/2679773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2679771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2679770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2679770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2679770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}