The outcome of the Texas U.S. Senate race was always going to be disturbing given the low quality of the two leading candidates.
asserted
outcome → go → candidates
It's not that there was no good option in the race; Ted Brown is a staunch supporter of free markets, civil liberties, small government, and a humane immigration policy.
asserted
Brown → be → markets
But Brown ran as a Libertarian in a country that treats a decrepit two-party system as an immutable natural feature.
asserted
that → run → feature
Even if given a choice between Hitler and Mao as major-party candidates and saints running on third-party or independent tickets, voters will almost always confine their votes to one or the other incarnation of evil.
asserted
voters → give → evil
That electoral history pretty much guaranteed that the winner would be either Republican Ken Paxton or Democrat James Talarico.
asserted
winner → guarantee → ?
Sure enough, Talarico walked away as the winner.
asserted
Talarico → walk → winner
You are reading The Rattler from J.D. Tuccille and Reason.
asserted
You → read → Tuccille
Bad Candidates With Ideas and Behavior To Match
For sure, Paxton and Talarico aren't Hitler and Mao.
asserted
Paxton → match → Ideas
They're garden variety terrible politicians who believe in bad things and behave even more questionably.
asserted
who → believe → things
In 2020, as a state lawmaker, Talarico described the free-market capitalism that made the world prosperous as an "oppressive system" that he linked to "white supremacy" in a discussion with Sierra Club activists.
asserted
he → describe → activists
He also was hostile to oil and gas as energy sources (in Texas!) and fudged important details of his history as a teacher.
asserted
He → fudge → teacher
The Democrat has since disavowed some of his earlier radicalism, including uberwoke posturing, and now calls himself a "proud capitalist."
asserted
Democrat → disavow → himself
Political candidates certainly have the right to change their minds, but it's unusual to see such an extreme ideological evolution in a 30-something adult who held elected office throughout the alleged transformation.
asserted
who → have → transformation
An explanation more convincing than "I want to hold statewide office in Texas" would have been appropriate for the sudden flip.
asserted
I → want → flip
Talarico also continued to bash "billionaires" in his campaign in language closely aligned with the Democratic Party's very not-market-oriented progressive wing.
asserted
Talarico → continue → wing
Ironically, he took gobs of cash from very wealthy donors including $10 million to a Talarico-supporting Super-PAC by billionaire Reid Hoffman.
asserted
he → take → Hoffman
Maybe billionaires are OK so long as they support the correct brand of politics.
asserted
they → support → politics
Basically, it's not clear that he has any.
asserted
he → have → any
In 2024, Paxton agreed to pay $300,000 in restitution to end criminal securities fraud charges that dated from 2015 and his time as a state legislator.
asserted
that → agree → legislator
The settlement came just weeks before he was scheduled to stand trial on felony charges.
asserted
he → come → charges
That conclusion followed an extended battle against state legislators from his own party who impeached him for misconduct, bribery, and corruption.
asserted
who → follow → misconduct
His acquittal by the Texas Senate allowed him to resume his role as state attorney general.
asserted
him → allow → general
With the impeachment case resolved, the federal government dropped related criminal charges against Paxton in 2025 based on information his own staff brought to the FBI.
asserted
staff → resolve → FBI
The loose ends were wrapped up in time to clear the way for Paxton's U.S. Senate run, but they hung over his campaign, as did his participation in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
asserted
participation → wrap → election
Why Look for Good Options When You Can Choose Your Doom?
asserted
You → look → Doom
Fundamentally, if you were looking for well-adjusted, trustworthy standard-bearers who offer constructive platforms for preserving a free-market society of limited government and personal liberty and building on its best qualities, these are not two individuals you would pick.
asserted
you → look → qualities
If, instead, you sought cartoonish embodiments of stereotypes about the major political parties to dare the voters to cast ballots for them anyway, Paxton and Talarico certainly fit the bill.
asserted
Paxton → seek → bill
And one of them is going to Washington, D.C.
There really were other options.
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one → go → Washington
In addition to Talarico, Paxton, and the above-mentioned Brown, Ballotpedia lists four recognized write-in independent hopefuls for the office.
asserted
Ballotpedia → mention → office
There's also the option of skipping the Senate line on the ballot or ignoring Election Day entirely, so you can spend it doing something more productive like changing oil in the car or going on a drinking binge.
asserted
you → be → binge
To my taste, if you were going to cast a vote in the Texas Senate race, Brown was a much more attractive candidate.
asserted
Brown → go → race
The retired insurance adjuster offered a platform of resisting government surveillance, implementing an "Ellis Island"-style immigration system, free trade, lower taxes, overall civil liberties including self-defense rights, and non-intervention overseas.
asserted
adjuster → offer → rights
"You need someone who is independent, who is going to defend the people of Texas as long as what they want is constitutional, and defend the U.S. Constitution, and most of what they do in Washington is unconstitutional.
asserted
they → need → Washington
So, I'd be like a thorn in the side of everybody there and you need somebody like that," Brown told Reason's Nick Gillespie last month.
asserted
Brown → need → Gillespie
But Americans seem committed to turning every Election Day into a choose-your-doom scenario, and that looks to be what Texans opted for with their Senate votes this year as they confined themselves to the unsavory either/or of Paxton and Talarico.
asserted
they → seem → Paxton
By popular acclaim, the unsavory candidate Texans chose was James Talarico.
asserted
Texans → choose → acclaim
If we're lucky, in office we'll see the somewhat moderated Talarico of recent years rather than the wacky anti-capitalist radical of the past.
asserted
we → see → past
Don't mess with Texas has become an unofficial slogan for the Lone Star State.
asserted
mess → mess → State
And the messy choice they've made may mess with the rest of us after Talarico takes his seat in the U.S. Senate.
uncertain
Talarico → make → Senate
The Aporia
