{
  "id": 17053437,
  "title": "Republicans are trying to make the Texas Senate race about “manliness”",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/republicans-are-trying-to-make-the-texas-senate-race-about-manliness",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-29T11:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Vox",
    "slug": "vox",
    "url": "https://www.vox.com/politics/507005/texas-senate-race-talarico-paxton-masculinity"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's initial effort to make the Texas Senate race about masculinity paid off, as his initial ad accused Democratic candidate James Talarico of being \"Too Low-T for Texas,\" implying he is not masculine enough. Paxton, who endorsed Trump in the primary and is closely linked to the president, has adopted a similar strategy. This line of attack is not surprising, given Texas' reputation for rugged individualism, cowboy boots, and cowboy culture. Trump adviser Stephen Miller even tweeted that Democrats nominated their first transgender Senate candidate in Texas, while Vice President Kamala Harris recently came close to calling Talarico gay at a rally. Elon Musk's super PAC has also unleashed AI-generated commercials featuring a drag queen dunking on female athletes. Trump himself has accused Talarico of being a vegan, an inflammatory attack on some Texan values. While these attacks might resonate with some voters, many are more concerned about issues like gas prices and the economy. Current polling shows Talarico leading the race, with the race being called a toss-up by the Cook Political Report. The last Democratic senator elected to represent Texas was in 1988, but Talarico appears to have a real shot at breaking that streak.",
  "summary": "Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton could have picked any number of messages for his first Senate campaign ad of the general election back in May. Texans care a lot about cost of living, border security, healthcare, and corruption, among other issues. But Paxton’s very first ad went with something that pollsters don’t generally ask about. […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}