Texas – “Ken Paxton keeps dodging debates. So I’m challenging him to a debate on Fox News — his safe space,” Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico said Thursday as he challenged Republican nominee Ken Paxton to face him in a televised debate moderated by Fox News’ Bret Baier.
Talarico made the challenge during an interview at the Texas Tribune Festival, arguing that Paxton has repeatedly avoided committing to debates despite earlier indications from his campaign that the Republican would participate. Talarico said he was willing to meet Paxton on what he described as the Republican’s “home turf” and argued that Texas voters deserve an opportunity to hear directly from both candidates.
“Ken has been running from accountability his whole life. It’s time to stop running,” Talarico wrote in his social media post announcing the challenge.
During the interview, Talarico said Paxton’s campaign had previously indicated in July that the Republican candidate would debate him. He said three different invitations from Texas television organizations were subsequently declined or left without a commitment from Paxton’s campaign.
Talarico pointed specifically to the proposed debates that he had accepted with Texas media organizations. The Texas Tribune reported that Talarico accepted invitations for three televised debates, including events planned for the Rio Grande Valley, Dallas and Austin. Paxton’s campaign, however, had not committed to any of those debates as of Thursday.
The proposed Rio Grande Valley debate had been scheduled for Sept. 22, while additional events were proposed for Dallas on Oct. 6 and Austin on Oct. 13. WFAA reported that Paxton’s campaign had stopped responding to messages after communicating with station management for weeks about a potential debate.
Talarico said he was willing to go beyond the traditional Texas television debate settings and instead meet Paxton on Fox News.
“Let’s go to Ken Paxton’s safe space,” Talarico said during the interview, proposing a debate with Baier. “I’ll go into the lion’s den, because I know what I believe, I am proud of my record, and I’m not afraid of hard questions.”
The challenge comes after months of disagreement over whether and where the two candidates should debate. Paxton’s campaign previously said it expected the Republican to debate Talarico, but his advisers also criticized the proposed formats and questioned whether moderators would be neutral. In September, Paxton senior adviser Nick Maddux dismissed Talarico’s acceptance of a CNN debate invitation, arguing that the proposed moderators would not provide a neutral setting.
Talarico has continued pressing the issue as the Senate contest moves toward the November election. The Washington Post reported Thursday that Talarico had challenged Paxton to several debates over the course of the campaign while Paxton had not agreed to any of them. Paxton’s campaign initially said it was willing to debate as long as moderators were neutral, but had not committed to a debate date as of Thursday.
The debate dispute has also attracted attention because both candidates have already used television and online appearances to attack each other over their records and policy positions. Paxton has appeared on Fox News during the campaign, including an interview with Baier, while Talarico has also faced questions from Fox News about his past statements and positions on issues including transgender athletes and biological sex.
Talarico framed his latest challenge around voters’ ability to hear competing arguments directly from the two nominees.
“Texans deserve answers to their questions,” Talarico said. “Texans deserve to make an informed choice in this really critical race.”
The debate controversy comes as the campaigns prepare for the final stretch before voting begins. Texas A&M University’s Memorial Student Center Wiley Lecture Series also announced an invitation to both candidates for a proposed Oct. 14 debate in College Station. The organization said it reached out to both campaigns and planned the event as another opportunity for Texas voters to hear from the candidates before early voting begins Oct. 19. Neither campaign had committed to that event at the time of the announcement.
For now, Talarico’s Fox News proposal represents another attempt to put a debate between the two Senate nominees on the campaign calendar. Whether Paxton accepts the challenge remains unresolved, leaving the candidates’ competing positions to continue playing out through campaign appearances, advertisements and media interviews as Election Day approaches.
