Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico needs to flip some Republican voters this November to win in the largest red state in the U.S., but his opponents are calling out claims of Republicans backing him as inauthentic, if not fraudulent.

“Any chance that Talarico has building any type of Republican coalition is a pipe dream for him,” Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Nobody is going to follow him. He’s completely out of touch with Texans.”

Gruters’ rebuke came after women voters interviewed on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” claimed to be Republican crossover supporters, only to have longstanding ties to Democrats and anti-President Donald Trump groups – not exactly people that would be voting for Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton in one of the Senate’s biggest ticket races in the battle for the majority.

“The people that he had come out and say that they were on his team have been proven to be basically Democrat, liberal activists that have been supporting Democrat candidates for 10-plus years,” Gruters continued.

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“I just don’t believe it,” Gruters said. “This is Kamala Harris’ ‘White Dudes for Kamala.’ It just doesn’t exist. It’s a wannabe or an attempt at them to try to build some crossover support.”

Talarico has emphasized building a broad coalition in his campaign, which says it intends to “go everywhere and talk to everyone” ahead of the November election.

But Republicans have seized on the political histories of some of Talarico’s backers as evidence the outreach is less bipartisan than advertised.

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One of the women presented as a Republican mother supporting Talarico was identified in subsequent reporting as Mindy McClure. She has Federal Election Commission filings associated with her showing repeated ActBlue contributions benefiting Democratic candidates and political groups dating back to 2018, including Kamala Harris and The Lincoln Project – an anti-Trump political activist group.

“When you have policies like mutilating children, saying that God has six different genders and is non-binary and all this other stuff, you can’t expect that Republicans are going to hop on and think that they’re going to be on board to this liberal clown show that he’s operating down there in Texas,” Gruters said.

The primary-voting history of another woman featured in the campaign’s outreach was exposed by a record showing more participation in Democratic than Republican primaries.

When reached for comment Sunday, the Talarico campaign said the women have no official ties to the campaign, but the spokesperson pointed to the MSNBC interview, noting they had previously voted for Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott – one of which vowed to never do again.

Talarico has also showcased the support of former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, a longtime Republican who endorsed the Democrat at a recent campaign event.

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Whitley ran as a Republican judge, but his recent endorsements are on the left. The former county judge endorsed Democrat Mike Collier against Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in 2022 before backing Harris for president and Democrat Colin Allred for U.S. Senate in 2024. All those Democrats lost to Republicans, as did Beto O’Rourke to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, by less than three points in 2018.

That history has given Republicans an opening to argue that Talarico is largely attracting voters who had already broken with GOP nominees before the current Senate contest.

“He’s not Beto: Beto was actually a decent candidate, as liberal as he was,” Gruters said, delivering his oft-used moniker to Talarico for his “freakish” policy positions in a campaign for Senate in the deeply conservative state. “This guy makes Beto look like a conservative.

“Tala-freako has no chance, because people aren’t buying into the stuff that he’s peddling.”

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Texas is famously a state that Trump says votes on “God, guns and oil,” so the RNC chair says those not on board with Trump or those staples are “not the right candidate for Texas” and “not the right candidates for the U.S. Senate” in the state.

“We don’t need weak members,” Gruters said. “We need strong MAGA warriors. And that’s exactly what Ken Paxton will provide is he will bring: strength to the U.S. Senate on behalf of Texas and will represent them well.”

Paxton survived a potential Texas state impeachment effort just about three years ago. Two of those Republican Texas State House impeachment managers that voted to impeach Paxton in an attempt that died in the state Senate are now campaigning for Paxton.

Republican State Rep. Jeff Leach introduced Paxton at an Allen, Texas, campaign rally last week, and state Rep. Briscoe Cain introduced Paxton at a Houston rally. Both are backing Paxton over Talarico.

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There had been some concern Paxton – endorsed by Trump – was not an ideal GOP nominee, having ousted sitting Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who was a four-term senator and won by nearly double digits in 2020. Cornyn was “a great U.S. senator for a long time,” Gruters admitted, stopping short of saying whether Cornyn will stump for Paxton like those impeachment managers that have come home for him.

Fox News Digital reached out to Cornyn’s office for comment.

“I think he is raising money right now for all the Republicans in the Senate, still hosting events, and so I don’t know personally if he’s come out and endorsed Ken Paxton yet, but I’m sure that he is still on board with making sure that we have the MAGA warriors in place to support the president’s agenda moving forward,” Gruters said.

The Trump endorsement is not undefeated in marquee Senate races, as Herschel Walker (Georgia) and Dr. Mehmet Oz (Pennsylvania) lost in 2022 despite Trump’s backing, but those key losses were by non-politicians that do not have Paxton’s state-wide campaign infrastructure.

“You got to remember Ken Paxton won this state a couple of times in the general,” Gruters added. “He won a primary against a strong incumbent [Cornyn] that’s been there for a long time by a couple hundred thousand votes.”

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Paxton told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” on Sunday that he has “outraised every Republican in the country,” but he urged the Senate Leadership Fund – which has long-running ties to Senate incumbents like Cornyn – now-conservative billionaire Elon Musk and Trump’s $800 million MAGA Inc. coffers need to help him keep the Senate seat.

“I’m trying to raise money during the summer in Texas, which is challenging, so we’re hoping the Senate Leadership Fund, Elon Musk, President Trump come in now because we’re trying to accumulate,” Paxton told host Maria Bartiromo. “We’re raising money for October right now and September, not now.

“We don’t have the money for now. So that’s allowed [Talarico] to just keep advertising that he’s a moderate Democrat when he’s, in reality, a socialist.”

Despite long-running Democrat hopes and tens of millions of campaign spending to flip Cruz’s seat, Gruters predicted this Paxton-Talarico race would not be the biggest dollar one of this cycle – that will wind up being North Carolina, he said.

“People want this race to be the biggest race in the country, but it really won’t be because, at the end of the day, Paxton has proven time and time again that he’s a winner – he’s a winner in this state,” Gruters said amid slow-moving funding for Paxton’s campaign against the big Talarico Democrat dollars.

“Texas is ruby red. It’s not going to go left and vote for somebody who wants to mutilate children, put boys in girls locker rooms and who, you know, says he has faith on Sunday then goes woke on Monday. It’s just not going to happen. Texas is a hardcore Republican state.

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“And so, yes, listen, a lot of money, Texas is a massive state, a lot of resources from California are pouring in because these California liberals like Tala-freako. But I don’t think it’s going to help him at the end of the day. Paxton is going to win this race.”

A slew of online discourse unfolded last week after Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet shared that a college-aged member of the conservative nonprofit told him, “A burrito shouldn’t cost $20.”

“Yeah, a lot of this is a hangover from COVID and Biden-era inflation, but the lived experience is the same: It just feels like basic things cost too much,” Kolvet wrote in the viral X post, which has racked up more than 3 million views.

The online controversy highlights a deep frustration for young adults in Los Angeles. While politicians appear to be debating inflation for their own ends, students are struggling with the reality of not being able to afford food.

A $20 burrito sounds “unjustifiable” to Klarissa Palacios, who graduated from USC in May with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in law, history and culture. While in school, Palacios interned at various city hall offices and said her hourly salary eventually reached $25 — a key consideration for college students, she said, because many young people determine a meal’s affordability based on how many work hours can pay it off.

With minimum wage in L.A. at $18.42 per hour as of July, college students earning this rate would need to work for more than an hour in order to pay for just one burrito, Palacios pointed out.

“I’m Mexican, so I grew up with free burritos at home, anytime I wanted. $20 is pretty steep,” she said. “I’m expected to eat three times a day. If I’m spending $20 per meal and I work eight hours, then that means I’m only really getting paid five hours.”

Noticing a need for affordable meals, Palacios and fellow USC student Josiah Herfurth spent this past semester hosting $10-per-person lunches at their college apartments, dubbing the offering Cafe 10:31. The idea budded from a survey they sent to fellow members of their campus ministry, which found that the leading reason students weren’t attending post-church lunches at restaurants ranging from In-N-Out to sit-down ramen spots was because they wanted to save money, not for a lack of transportation or time.

So Palacios and Herfurth began paying out of pocket for bulk Costco runs that fed as many as 40 people per event. On the menu? Tacos, chili, hot dogs and conversation.

“It started with being just a USC college student thing, and ended up being just a general young adults thing,” Herfurth said, referring to how word quickly spread to UCLA and Cal State Long Beach students, as well as the young adult community at their church.

Herfurth is used to meal prepping in bulk, and said it’s a common practice among college students hoping to cut costs. He and his roommates would use up to six stove burners at a time to prepare meals together, he said.

“It was always more fun for me when I could share something with someone else, and it also made things cheaper,” Herfurth said. “That was the key to me.”

As the online conversation around food affordability evolved, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) chimed in on X.

“Just hearing about this dumb $20 burrito debate so just thought I’d make the losers on social media angry before going to bed,” Crenshaw wrote. “Stop whining, get a job, eat ramen like the rest of us did in college, on a budget with four roommates.”

But Megan Monroe, who graduated from UCLA in June, said it’s unrealistic to eat packaged ramen like the iconic Cup Noodles brand for every meal.

“Just because someone else did it, doesn’t mean that was the right thing to do,” Monroe said. “Nutrition has come such a long way. … I think it’s for the best that we’re steering toward a better, nutritional diet.”

Still, Monroe is a stickler for keeping her diet affordable.

Even though UCLA’s dining halls are recognized as the best in the country, Monroe opted out of the campus meal plan her junior year. Her required freshman and sophomore year plans came out to about $9 per visit, but when she moved to an off-campus, university-owned housing complex, she had the choice to opt into a plan that would cost about $15 per visit. She deemed it too expensive.

“I was like, I can cook for less than that,” Monroe said.

Since her dining hall days, Monroe now makes one Trader Joe’s trip per week, which usually comes out to about $45. She typically has milk and cereal for breakfast and is known among friends to eat a homemade take on a classic deli combination “360 days of the year”: a cold sandwich, a piece of fruit and a bag of chips.

Monroe does dine out once per week, including for burritos — she favors the $11 burrito at Brother’s Cousins Tacos in Sawtelle.

In a burrito city like L.A., prices can range dramatically, such as Burritos La Palma’s $5 homestyle burritos, where the menu recommends ordering two or three per person for a satisfying meal. When former taco stand El Ruso opened its flagship in Studio City last month, burritos wrapped in 18-inch Sonoran flour tortillas and stuffed with rib-eye or chile Colorado were priced at $20 each. It’s not uncommon to find breakfast burritos that exceed $20, like the $24 wrap with beef machaca and shrimp offered on Daisy Margarita Bar’s weekend brunch menu.

For students at other universities, campus dining varies in affordability.

When Joshua Min started at Cal State Long Beach in 2025, a $315-million renovation project had just shut down its University Student Union through 2028.

In light of the closure shuttering certain food options on campus, the university gathered an array of local food trucks — with most meals within the $15 to $20 range, Min said. Not wanting to spend additional funds, he opted into a meal plan offered for commuter students like himself, with 50 meals for the 16-week semester that came to about $10 per meal.

Min said he had minimal complaints of the food itself; he often filled up his plate with chicken, rice, fruit and vegetables. But he found himself rationing the meal swipes, starting the semester conservatively and ending with extras, which he used by inviting his friends to come with him.

After that semester, Min opted to pack turkey or tuna salad sandwiches for school, using bulk ingredients that his family buys from Costco.

Min said he ultimately was disappointed at Cal State Long Beach’s selection of food trucks, as a student who prioritizes cutting his cost of living.

“It seemed like they just cobbled up these ideas at the last minute,” he said. “I respect the effort, but I think a lot of students were left unheard and hungry.”

Democratic senators are still backing Maine Senate nominee Troy Jackson, who replaced former candidate Graham Platner on the ballot, after the latest allegations threaten to yet again shake up the race for U.S. Senate in the Pine Tree State.

Platner, following a series of scandals culminating in sexual misconduct claims, was forced to drop out ahead of the Democratic primary to take on Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, earlier this summer. But now, a bombshell report claims Platner’s replacement fathered two children with his second cousin.

The recent report wasn’t enough to turn lawmakers against Jackson, with most stressing the necessity for Democrats to win swing state races in order to win back a majority in the upper chamber — not an easy feat in Maine where Collins, a moderate, has represented the state in the Senate since 1997.

Maine’s other senator, independent Angus King, said: “I have no idea what you’re talking about and I’m not going to comment on it anyway.”

Every senator that Fox News Digital spoke with on the issue this week denied having knowledge of the report.

“I don’t know anything about that, but what I do know is that we have got to elect Democrats up and down the ballot,” Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., told Fox News Digital.

“I haven’t heard of these reports,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., echoed. “Troy Jackson is somebody who’s obviously in this fight for working people.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., ignored the crux of the question. “I think it’s super important that we win that seat so that we can put an end to the wild cost increases and rampant corruption that the Senate right now is indulging,” he said.

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The Maine Wire editor Steven Robinson first reported last week that Jackson shares two children with his second cousin, Lana Pelletier. In posting the genealogical findings, the independent journalist claimed Pelletier’s father is a cousin of Jackson’s mother.

The report made waves after Jackson received 94% of the 601 delegate votes in the process this summer to replace Platner, who dropped out of the race after a rape allegation finally forced his Democrat allies to turn against him. Platner denied the claim, among others made against him, but ultimately it was the nail in the coffin that resulted in him ending his bid for U.S. Senate before the deadline for Democrats to get a new candidate on the Maine primary ballot.

Without directly denying the report, Jackson’s campaign said in a previous statement to Fox News Digital that it was an attack comping from the Collins camp.

“Susan Collins will do anything to distract from the fact that she votes with Trump 96% of the time and has sold out working people in Maine. Personal attacks on Troy’s family are shameful and desperate,” the statement read.

Jackson’s campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for additional comment on the reporting.

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“Haven’t seen it,” Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said when asked on Capitol Hill about the reports.

Ossoff initially avoided saying whether he’d back Jackson. Instead, he pointed to Michigan’s Democratic race, which the far-left progressive Abdul El-Sayed won on Wednesday, before addressing his support for Jackson.

“I’m supporting our nominee in Michigan,” Ossoff replied when asked if he will be endorsing Jackson. “In Maine, we’ll see who wins.”

Many senators credited their support for Jackson and other Democrat candidates running for office as a broader effort to target Republicans and their agendas — both within the Donald Trump administration and in Congress.

“We have a president who today, again, has no strategic plan about getting us out of that war in Iran, where our children are dying on the battlefield while his are getting rich,” Alsobrooks said.

A recent Fox News Poll found that 56% of voters oppose U.S. military action against Iran, with 40% strongly opposing the war, indicating the ongoing conflict might play a role in how voters show up at in November.

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Alsobrooks said she is supporting the Democratic nominee “in every single state,” again indirectly backing Jackson, to ensure her party takes back the majority in Congress.

“I’m supporting whoever the nominee, in every single state, the Democratic nominee,” Alsobrooks said. “We are going to have to take back the House and take back the Senate as well so that we can bring down the cost of living, get people healthcare again.”

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“That is what is important right now to the American people, and that’s what we’re looking for.”