A planned black voter outreach event featuring Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico has been canceled, organizers announced Monday, days after he switched another appearance to a virtual format because of the flu.
The Central Texas African American Civic Engagement Symposium said its scheduled event with Talarico had been canceled but gave no explanation.
“We apologize for any inconvenience and encourage everyone to remain informed, stay civically engaged, and most importantly—make your voice heard by voting this November,” the group said on Facebook.
The announcement came less than a week after Talarico was scheduled to appear in person at a U.S. Hispanic Business Council event in South Texas on Sept. 30 but instead participated virtually after saying he had been diagnosed with the flu.
“I was looking forward to being down in the Valley,” he said on Sept. 30. “I’ve been talking about it all week. I was ready to eat my favorite quesabirria tacos, but I was starting to feel kind of under the weather a few days ago. And last night, it got so bad that I went to urgent care here in Dallas.”
The Texas Democrat suggested he had picked up the virus while campaigning.
“I guess I’ve been shaking too many hands on the campaign trail, and so I want to keep everybody safe. And, you know, if I was passing on this illness to somebody and got someone’s grandmother or someone’s baby sick, I couldn’t live with myself,” he said. “So I thought the best thing to do was to put safety first and put everyone’s health first.”
Talarico and Ohio Democratic Senate nominee Sherrod Brown headlined a Manhattan fundraiser hosted by actor Robert De Niro last week. The invitation listed jewelry designer and filmmaker Alexis Bittar at the top of the host committee and listed contribution levels between $500 and $27,000, The Daily Wire reported.
Bittar, who produced the documentary “Reclaim the Flag,” called the United States a “sh*thole” on July 3, the day before the country’s 250th birthday.
On Oct. 2, Talarico’s campaign shared footage of a February rally in Lubbock, framing it as a current sign of growing enthusiasm for Talarico in deep-red Lubbock ahead of the election, according to a post by RNC spokesman Zach Kraft.
Where is James Talarico?
He hasn’t been seen in Texas in a week since his trip to New York City for a $27,000/plate fundraiser.
Now, his team is posting footage from February.
Literally the same video. 👇 https://t.co/CEVv8hBOqf
— Zach Kraft (@ZachKraft_) October 3, 2026
The campaign’s public events page does not currently list an upcoming in-person event featuring Talarico himself. Talarico’s campaign did not immediately respond to The Daily Wire’s request for comment.
Monday’s cancellation follows criticism from some black Democrats and activists over Talarico’s outreach following his primary victory over Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX). Crockett has repeatedly poured cold water on Talarico’s electoral prospects and dismissed her primary defeat as a “racist race.”
“James Talarico is either taking black voters for granted or giving up on them altogether,” RNC spokesman Zach Kraft said in a statement to The Daily Wire. “Either way, Talarico’s attempt to heal his relationship with black voters is simply mediocre.”
Other black activists have previously threatened to tank his campaign over what they describe as his failure to engage black voters and organizations following Crockett’s defeat. Over the summer, Texas Democratic state Rep. Jolanda Jones predicted Talarico would lose.
“Do I think that Talarico’s refusal thus far to engage black electeds and the black infrastructure has put him at a disadvantage? Absolutely, because there’s not a lot of time to try to rally us,” Texas State Rep. Jolanda Jones, a Democrat, warned in an interview.
“Talarico needs to pay for us to get our voters out. Only then does Talarico have a chance to win,” Jones said. “If he continues to do what he has been doing, I believe Talarico is going to lose.”
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