When asked in July if Attorney General Ken Paxton intended to face off against his U.S. Senate opponent James Talarico, his spokesperson said, “of course we’re going to debate.”
But with two weeks left until early voting, the Republican nominee has yet to accept any invitations, meaning this could be the first Senate race in Texas without a debate in a quarter century.
Talarico, meanwhile, has accepted at least four debate invitations from CNN and local TV stations. Last month he challenged Paxton to a forum moderated by Brett Baier on Fox News, which the network later agreed to host.
Paxton’s campaign has not responded to repeated requests for comment about whether he ever intends to debate.
But Paxton’s in good company. Amid an unusually competitive political landscape in Texas this midterm election, almost every Republican nominee for a statewide seat appears to be dodging debate invitations from their Democratic counterparts. Notably, Gov. Greg Abbott’s campaign has not publicly agreed to debate Gina Hinojosa, despite her repeated calls for him to meet her on stage. Abbott debated his Democratic opponents in each of his three previous gubernatorial races.
The sole debate — allegedly — scheduled across statewide races is in the contest for railroad commissioner, a post that regulates oil and gas. Democrat Jon Rosenthal announced in late September that he and Republican Bo French agreed to an Oct. 22debate. French has not publicly confirmed either way.
State Rep. Vikki Goodwin and state Sen. Nathan Johnson, the Democratic nominees for lieutenant governor and attorney general, respectively, have also urged their GOP opponents to debate. Campaign spokespeople for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and state Sen. Mayes Middleton did not respond to requests for comment.
The drumbeat of Democrats’ demands to debate is not unusual, given that candidates challenging known incumbents tend to see televised debates as an opportunity to raise their name recognition among voters and to create standout moments that elevate their profiles or embarrass their opponents, said Rice University political science professor John Alford.
“There’s an old axiom in political campaigning that the underdog always wants to debate because they don’t have very much to lose,” he said.
But the Republican silence in response to debate invitations this cycle also comes as the GOP contends with intense political headwinds fueled by President Donald Trump’s sagging approval ratings and unusually competitive races at the top of the ballot.
The Senate race is Paxton’s highest-profile and most competitive contest yet, with public polling consistently showing Talarico narrowly ahead.
Talarico has argued that a debate would help voters “make an informed choice” and force both candidates to answer tough questions.
“Ken Paxton’s handlers claim he’s willing to debate, but every time a reporter asks a question, he literally runs away,” Talarico said in July. “He hasn’t set foot on a debate stage in over a decade and refuses to answer the public’s questions because he’s not a public servant — he’s a puppet.”
At the Texas Tribune Festival last month, when he challenged Paxton to the Fox News debate, Talarico added, “I’ll go into the lion’s den because I know what I believe. I am proud of my record. And I’m not afraid of hard questions. And Ken Paxton is running from a fight.”
Paxton has avoided debates throughout his political career, declining to debate in each of histhreeruns for attorney general.
Southern Methodist University political science professor Matthew Wilson said that though Paxton was trailing Talarico in polls, a debate stage would give Talarico an opportunity to press him on his various, mostly-resolved legal and ethical scandals — “things that he’d rather not talk about,” Wilson said.
Hinojosa, too, has repeatedly tried to goad Abbott into a debate. She accepted four debate invitations extended to both campaigns by local TV networks. And on NBC News last week, she said: “He’s refusing to debate, trying to hide from his record. But listen, if he’s not man enough to debate me, he shouldn’t be governor of Texas.”
Throughout his gubernatorial runs, Abbott has debated his Democratic opponents — Beto O’Rourke in 2022, Lupe Valdez in 2018 and Wendy Davis in 2014 — then proceeded to crush them by double-digit percentage points on Election Day.
This cycle, for the first time across his gubernatorial campaigns, a handful of public surveys have shown him trailing, according to RealClearPolling.
“In his previous races, he was such a heavy favorite that he didn’t have much to gain or lose either way,” Wilson said. “This time, he faces a closer race, and so I think he has to do a more strategic calculation about whether he has more to gain or lose in a debate setting.”
While Hinojosa’s name recognition has surged among voters in recent months, Abbott remains better known. Agreeing to a debate would give Hinojosa a statewide platform, Wilson added.
In races across the country, debates are a fading artifact of the campaign trail, Alford said, a trend he attributed in part to deepening political polarization and countless information channels rendering the forums less influential in shaping voters’ opinions.
Wilson added that debates, particularly below the presidential level, tend to “really only matter” if a candidate makes a serious mistake.
“If both candidates perform reasonably normally and as expected, debates are unlikely to move the needle very much,” he said. “The people who do watch, for the most part, are not undecided voters, but it’s voters who are watching to cheer for their guy.”
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.