Talarico challenges Paxton to Fox News debate

Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico challenged Republican Ken Paxton to a debate on Fox News at the Texas Tribune Festival on Thursday, putting a proposed face-to-face contest before voters as they compete for the state’s U.S. Senate seat. The reports said Paxton had not accepted the challenge as of September 25; whether the debate will take place remains unresolved. Talarico made the offer during remarks at the festival, saying Texans deserved an informed choice. The challenge followed invitations to debate that Paxton had reportedly declined. No response from Paxton to the Fox News proposal was included in the reports, so it was not clear whether he would accept. The debate proposal comes amid signs of a closely watched race, though the available polling figures reflect different surveys and voter groups. A Marist poll released September 23 found Talarico at 50% and Paxton at 44% among 1,139 registered Texas voters surveyed September 17-20. The poll’s margin of error was 4.4 percentage points. That result does not establish the eventual outcome, and other surveys cited in the reporting used different field dates and populations, limiting direct comparisons.