Cornyn Aide Takes Job With Talarico: REPORT

A Republican Senate aide has crossed the aisle to work for the Democrat trying to flip the Senate seat his boss is about to vacate.

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James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, has brought on a policy staffer who spent five years working for Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn, NOTUS reported Monday.

Jacob Smith, who served Cornyn as deputy legislative director and policy adviser, will take on the role of deputy policy director for the Talarico campaign.

Staff switching parties is uncommon, and the hire hints that Talarico wants to court Republican voters in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat in decades, NOTUS reported.

Texas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988. (RELATED: Paxton Defies Establishment Expectations, Enters Election Home Stretch As Top GOP Fundraiser)

Cornyn lost the May 26 Republican primary runoff to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, ending a Senate tenure that began in 2002.

The defeat made the four-term senator the first Texas Republican to lose his party’s renomination for the seat, the AP reported. President Donald Trump had endorsed Paxton the week before the vote, calling him a “true MAGA warrior.”

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Cornyn received the most votes in the March 3 primary but fell short of a majority, forcing the runoff that he ultimately lost, according to the AP.

The result set up a November contest between Paxton and Talarico.

Senate Republican leaders and the party’s Washington establishment had backed Cornyn, viewing him as the safer bet against a Democrat.

Opponents of Paxton have described him as corrupt, citing a 2023 impeachment on corruption charges that ended in acquittal, according to the AP.

Democrats have said openly they would rather run against Paxton, arguing his record gives them a rare chance to flip the reliably red state, according to the Texas Tribune.

Talarico, a former public school teacher, has held a seat in the Texas House of Representatives since 2018, according to CBS News. He won the Democratic nomination in March, defeating Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

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