Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico skipped a Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke El Paso rally staged to boost him, campaigning instead in North Texas as early voting opened.
While Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke headlined a Monday night Democratic rally in El Paso, James Talarico was more than 600 miles away running his own events in Fort Worth and Denton.
Fox News reported that the El Paso gathering at the Abraham Chavez Theatre still promoted Talarico’s bid for the open U.S. Senate seat, even as the candidate himself stayed on a separate track in North Texas. Early voting had begun ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The split-screen night put national progressive firepower in one corner of Texas and the actual nominee in another. Democrats have not won a Texas U.S. Senate race since 1988. Talarico is trying to break that streak against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton for the seat being vacated by Sen. John Cornyn.
Sanders, the Vermont Independent, appeared with O’Rourke and Democratic Reps. Greg Casar and Veronica Escobar. A photo caption tied the El Paso rally to Oct. 19, 2026, and described Sanders joining hands with O’Rourke as part of a “Fighting Oligarchy Tour.”
O’Rourke used the microphone to cast Republican spending as panic and to brand Talarico the next senator from Texas.
Beto O’Rourke told the crowd:
"They have spent, so far, $368 million just against one man, the next senator from the state of Texas, James Talarico. That's how desperate, how scared and how panicked they are right now,"
Sanders framed the midterms as a fight over wealthy influence. He did not mention Talarico by name in the remarks carried in the coverage.
Bernie Sanders said:
"What you are seeing in this campaign, what you are seeing right here in Texas, all over America, is multibillionaires are pouring hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars,"
Casar voiced support for Talarico and told the audience that electing him would help advance Democrats’ legislative priorities. Escobar shared the stage. The Associated Press contributed to the report.
Talarico held a rally at North Crowley High School in Fort Worth as part of a “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts” campaign tour. He had an earlier stop in Denton the same cycle of events.
His message centered on money in politics, affordability, and what he called corruption. He targeted Paxton and billionaire Elon Musk over donor influence and tried to cast the race as larger than party labels.
James Talarico told supporters:
"We have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis,"
He added a second line that downplayed the usual team jerseys:
"This election shouldn't be about the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. It's bigger than that,"
Fox News Digital asked Talarico’s campaign why he held a separate event from the Sanders-O’Rourke rally. No response appears in the reporting.
The El Paso headliners are familiar faces on the left’s circuit. Sanders has spent years attacking “oligarchy” and big money. O’Rourke is a former Texas congressman who has already run high-profile statewide races. Casar and Escobar gave the night a House Democratic imprint on the border city stage.
Talarico, meanwhile, has been working other corners of the state. Caption records show a July 13, 2026, “Frontera Tour” stop in Eagle Pass and an Aug. 31, 2026, rally in Kerrville. The Monday night choice kept him in the Dallas-Fort Worth orbit while the national surrogates worked El Paso.
O’Rourke’s $368 million figure was presented as money spent “against” Talarico. Sanders spoke of “hundreds and hundreds of millions” from multibillionaires. Neither claim was broken out with independent itemization in the account beyond the speakers’ own words. Related headline language floated a larger GOP spending edge; the body did not establish that number as a hard tally.
Paxton is the Republican nominee. Talarico has made the attorney general and Musk foils in his donor-influence pitch. Cornyn’s departure opened the seat. Early voting is underway. Election Day is Nov. 3.
That is the practical map. Democrats are still hunting their first Texas Senate win in nearly four decades. They flew in Sanders and rolled out O’Rourke to sell Talarico in El Paso. The candidate sold himself in Fort Worth and Denton, and left the socialist headliner and the perennial statewide brand to stump without him on stage.
When the party’s loudest anti-wealth voices headline your rally and you campaign somewhere else under a “bigger than party” banner, voters are entitled to notice the distance, and decide what it says about the product on offer.
