HOUSTON (LifeSiteNews) — Texas Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had a forceful rebuke of Democrat U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico’s radical claims about Biblical doctrine, warning that the far-left candidate is putting himself in danger of “going to Hell.”
Democrats initially framed Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian and current Texas state representative, as a mainstream figure and rising political talent capable of appealing across partisan lines due in part to his ostensible faith background, which was swiftly quashed not only by his strident left-wing stances on abortion, sexuality, and more, but by claiming Christianity endorses them.
The Christian Post reports that, while addressing the Republican Party of Texas’s 2026 State Convention on June 12, Patrick confronted Talarico’s use of the Bible head-on.
“It’s James Talarico who decided to bring the Bible into this election. And let me tell you, that’s not a Bible I’ve ever read. I’ve never seen so much blasphemy from anyone running for office,” the lieutenant governor said. “Let me tell you what, I’m going to pray for that guy, because when he loses the Senate race, if he campaigns against God as he’s been doing, he’s going to Hell, for sure. That’s what we’re up against. That’s the darkness. That’s the light. That’s why we must be one.”
Talarico responded on X that “For 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.”
As previously covered by LifeSiteNews, Talarico has an extensive record of attempting to put a “woke” spin on Biblical teachings.
He has falsely claimed that the Bible “doesn’t mention abortion or gay marriage” and attempted to use the Bible to defend abortion while asserting the “closest thing we have to the kingdom of heaven is a multiracial, multicultural democracy where power is truly shared among all people.” In 2022, he urged former President Joe Biden to establish abortion centers on federal property across the country, to counter what he called an “anti-choice” threat to “our most basic rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” On multiple occasions, Talarico has referred to women as “neighbors with a uterus,” apparently to avoid “gendering.”
He has also faced intense criticism for blasphemous comments in 2021 about God and transgenderism. Last month, he explained that he “was being intentionally provocative with that statement,” while acknowledging there were “some statements that I’ve made that I certainly regret,” and complaining that Republican opponent Ken Paxton was allegedly “intentionally clipping my cringey comments to distract from his career of corruption.”
Paxton, the current Texas attorney general, defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn for the GOP nomination to the seat, overcoming fears of his electability and accusations of corruption and infidelity thanks to a combination of his proactive record as AG, discontent with Cornyn’s more moderate record, and a late-breaking endorsement from President Donald Trump.
Some GOP analysts continue to fear trading Cornyn for Paxton gives Democrats an opportunity to pick up a critical Senate seat in the red state or at least force the party to spend more to hold onto it than it otherwise would have, potentially at the expense of other races. Others maintain that Talarico’s radicalism squanders whatever hopes Democrats might have had.