{"id":2679956,"date":"2026-10-09T16:30:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T20:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-team-talarico-panics-as-candidate-ducks-off-campaign-trail-private-messages-from-campaign-show\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T16:33:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T20:33:46","slug":"report-team-talarico-panics-as-candidate-ducks-off-campaign-trail-private-messages-from-campaign-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-team-talarico-panics-as-candidate-ducks-off-campaign-trail-private-messages-from-campaign-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Team Talarico Panics as Candidate Ducks Off Campaign Trail, Private Messages from Campaign Show"},"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\">30<\/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%2Freport-team-talarico-panics-as-candidate-ducks-off-campaign-trail-private-messages-from-campaign-show%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=2679956&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>James Talarico, a Texas Democrat, has been absent from his campaign trail for nearly two weeks due to illness, specifically the flu, which he announced on September 30. Despite leading in polls against his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, concerns about his health adn campaign momentum have grown. While some volunteers and supporters defend his health,pointing out his type 1 diabetes,others,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-quiet-skies-was-abuse-so-is-the-rest-of-surveillance-state\/\" title=\"If &#039;Quiet Skies&#039; Was Abuse, So Is The Rest Of Surveillance State\">including political opponents<\/a> and even former President Trump,have speculated or mocked his absence,suggesting possible health issues or political motives. Talarico is expected to return to public campaigning soon, wiht plans to participate in a CNN town hall.The extended absence has drawn attention and criticism as it is indeed considered unusual for a candidate in such a critical campaign period.  <\/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><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_1)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Even James Talarico\u2019s volunteer team \u00a0seems to be panicking about the Texas Democrat\u2019s nearly two-week absence from the campaign trail, messages obtained from internal volunteer communications show.<\/p>\n<p>Talarico \u2014 who\u2019s locked in a battle with Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton for a seat that could decide who controls the next Senate \u2014 had his last in-person campaign appearance on Sept. 26 \u2014 13 days ago, as of Friday.<\/p>\n<p>In a video appearance on Sept. 30, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/talarico-buoyed-strong-gen-z-support-leads-paxton-outside-margin-error-new-poll\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Talarico<\/a> said that he had contracted a flu and needed to stay away from the physical trail.<\/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, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2026\/10\/08\/politics\/james-talarico-campaign-trail-paxton-texas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CNN<\/a>.<\/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>That isn\u2019t necessarily mollifying people on his volunteer team, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/10\/08\/us-news\/james-talaricos-influencer-army-privately-frets-about-prolonged-absence-from-campaign-trail-leaked-slack-messages-show\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Post<\/a>. They obtained messages from the campaign\u2019s Slack group showing some concern over the candidate\u2019s health.<\/p>\n<p>Others pointed out that he has type 1 diabetes and that concerns were overblown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI suppose spokesman JT Ennis should come out and update on James health,\u201d said volunteer Alex Balderas. \u201cConservatives doubting he\u2019s sick but conservatives leaving out the important part.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJames is diabetic that\u2019s why it\u2019s taking awhile for recovery so basically conservatives and Paxton are being. very immoral [sic].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019ll be fine. It\u2019s [j]ust conservatives blasting him. I\u2019m just worried about him losing momentum,\u201d Balderas added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I 100% expect him to make a comeback at the CNN [t]own hall that\u2019s a given.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah he\u2019s taking some heat for being MIA,\u201d another volunteer named Sandy from Waco said.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the faithful continued being, well, faithful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a buncha people that don\u2019t actually want him to be out touring that are causing a stink. Noone\u2019s genuinely upset,\u201d said a volunteer named Jacob Weber.<\/p>\n<p>While no one may be \u201cgenuinely upset,\u201d the absence is the latest red flag. Talarico has consistently led in the polls over Paxton, but a nearly two-week absence from the campaign trail in the final month of action is practically unprecedented.<\/p>\n<p>While <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trump-pac-hits-talarico-words-scathing-campaign-ad-includes-disturbing-weird-christian-heresies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Talarico<\/a> is due to appear at a CNN town hall event next Wednesday, that\u2019s practically an eon in campaign time, and apparently we won\u2019t see him in person until this weekend.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJames looks forward to being back out this weekend after recovering from the flu,\u201d said Ennis in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Paxton\u2019s been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/rally-crowd-chants-james-talarico-senate-candidate-disappears-campaign-trail-11-days\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">leading crowds in chants<\/a> of \u201cWhere is James Talarico?\u201d and President Donald Trump has been having a field day, as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hear the guy\u2019s disappeared. Nobody knows,\u201d Trump said during a Wednesday rally. \u201cYou know where he is? He\u2019s sick, because he\u2019s been forced to eat meat for political reasons, and he\u2019s throwing up all over the place. He\u2019s sick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, we\u2019re all looking. Nobody can find the guy. He\u2019s gone for two weeks, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Trump on the mysterious disappearance of James Talarico: \u201cYou haven\u2019t seen him in a couple weeks. I hear the guy has disappeared. You know where he is? He\u2019s SICK, because he\u2019s been forced to eat meat for political reasons and he\u2019s throwing up all over the place.\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/iPhZ9vxdQz<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 TheBlaze (@theblaze) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/theblaze\/status\/2107978174478811233?\">October 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>And even the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-hasan-piker-reminds-james-talarico-liberal-puppet-masters-got-play-ball\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Talarico<\/a> volunteers, from the sound of it, are beginning to doubt their own rationalization on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah it\u2019s the conservatives they\u2019re making it a big deal over two canceled events because he\u2019s sick. But he\u2019ll be back,\u201d Balderas said on the Slack server.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHope James blast[s] Paxton for being absent the whole time after he won his runoff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paxton has an actual job as the state\u2019s attorney general, it\u2019s worth noting. Talarico has basically practiced for this for over a year now \u2014 and in the homestretch, he\u2019s too incapacitated by the flu to even campaign for the job he wants Texans to trust him to perform.<\/p>\n<p>If this is what a virus does on the campaign trail, what the heck are voters supposed to expect if he actually goes to Washington, D.C., and takes on one of the more exigent elected jobs in America?<\/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( ! ( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>James Talarico\u2019s campaign team appears worried over his two-week absence, internal messages reveal. The Texas Democrat, competing against Republican Ken Paxton for a key Senate seat, last appeared in person on September 26 and cited flu as the reason for his silence. Despite assurances he\u2019ll return after recovery, some volunteers doubt his health claims amid ongoing concerns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2679957,"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\/Talarico-splits.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[86991,86992,71950,35743],"class_list":["post-2679956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-campaign-chaos","tag-campaign-messages","tag-candidate-withdrawal","tag-political-drama"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Talarico-splits.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679956","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=2679956"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2679961,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679956\/revisions\/2679961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2679957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2679956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2679956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2679956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}