It's Talarico vs. Paxton, and a Texas flip is within reach (5/27/26)

Plus keeping a notorious prison out of ICE's hands, spotlighting health care costs during "Seven Days in June," and more

May 27, 2026

Please help us get the word out about these actions by sharing this post

⚖️✊🏿 A resistance summer is underway: Kansas United for Impartial Courts kicks off their campaign to stop right-wing billionaires from hijacking their supreme court TONIGHT at 7PM ET, Tenant Union Federation holds info session for their organizer school also at 7PM ET ⚖️✊🏿

TOO LONG, DIDN’T READ
The GOP Senate candidate in Texas is so corrupt he was impeached by Texas Republicans… let’s help James Talarico beat him by phonebanking, canvassing, and community organizing
Submit comments against ICE opening new camp at site of notorious FCI Dublin prison
“Seven Days in June” actions to highlight devastation of Trump’s health care cuts start Monday
Mahmoud Khalil’s “due process” in the immigration courts was a sham – join the ACLU in demanding his case be reopened
Join Red Wine & Blue and Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw for a webinar on how anti-Blackness is at the core of the authoritarian project and how we can fight it Thursday

If you have questions, comments, and especially submissions for actions, please email us at roganslisttips@gmail.com!

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten highlights that James Talarico is polling better at this point in the cycle than any Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas in 24 years, and Ken Paxton’s approval rating is currently seven points underwater.

YES, DEMS REALLY COULD WIN TEXAS

Donald Trump has retired another Republican senator, and the dream of electing a Democrat in Texas is looking more and more like an achievable goal.

Many were already excited about the prospects of our nominee, 35-year-old state representative and Presbyterian seminarian James Talarico, who has run an optimistic campaign built heavily on his faith and economic populism. Then in yesterday’s GOP runoff, state attorney general Ken Paxton unseated incumbent Senator John Cornyn with the help of the president’s endorsement, and not by a small margin either.

Paxton has generally been seen as the weaker choice to face Talarico in the general, due to his extremism and a record of scandal that’s almost impressive. The Barbed Wire has pulled together a full list, which includes a federal indictment for securities fraud, a federal investigation into accusations of bribery and abuse of power, alleged mortgage fraud, being impeached by a GOP-controlled Texas House, profiting off contracts a company he invested in secured from the state, and stealing a $1,000 pen. (His wife, a state senator, filed for divorce last year on “biblical grounds” after public reports of infidelity.) You can see why Trump likes him, but probably not a great match for an electorate concerned with corruption.

Polling aggregators suggest a narrow lead for Talarico as the general begins, and multiple polls indicate Paxton is both well-known and not well-liked by the electorate. Data analyst Harry Enten has noted that by the numbers Paxton is in substantially worse shape than Ted Cruz was before his 2.5-point victory over Beto O’Rourke in 2018. Texas remains a red state that has no problem voting for a crook over a Democrat, and Paxton has won reelection twice since his initial indictment – including in a strong blue year in 2018. But in what’s looking like a wave election, there is real reason to think this could be a pick-up… and one that could be the tipping point for Senate control.

Let’s make sure we’re putting the work in.

👏🏽 The Texas Democratic Party will hold a virtual kick-off organizing rally for Talarico and gubernatorial candidate state rep. Gina Hinjosa TONIGHT at 7PM ET, and we can sign up to attend here. 👏🏽

VIRTUAL CAMPAIGN KICKOFF TONIGHT

☎️ We can also skip ahead and sign up for a phonebanking shift for Talarico and downballot Dems at 7-9PM ET Tuesdays, 7-9PM ET Thursdays and 11AM-2PM ET Saturdays from now through the election here. ☎️

MAKE CALLS TUE, THU, SAT

🚪 If we’re on the ground in Texas, we can find canvassing opportunities on Saturdays here or sign up to lead one here. 🚪

DOOR-KNOCK YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

🤜🏽 If we want to support long-term organizing in the state, we can connect with the Texas Organizing Project here. 🤛🏼

JOIN THE TEXAS ORGANIZING PROJECT

We also want to acknowledge what can only be described as an attempted ratf*cking in the Texas 35th Congressional District. A pop-up super-PAC that called itself “Lead Left” but seems for all the world to be a Republican front spent close to a million dollars trying to get Democrats to nominate antisemitic sex therapist Maureen Galindo over Bexar County Sheriff’s deputy Johnny Garcia, who has the backing of everyone from AOC to the DCCC. They failed, with Garcia winning handily and set up for a general election showdown with Republican businessman Carlos De La Cruz.

This district has been badly gerrymandered to one Trump would have carried 55-44 in 2024, so the fact that the GOP attempted these dirty tricks in the first place is extremely telling. 🙋🏻‍♂️ Let’s show them they had something to be scared of and sign up to volunteer for help Garcia here.🙋🏻‍♀️

TAKE THE 35TH

BLOCKING A NEW ICE CAMP AT SITE OF NOTORIOUS PRISON

We’ve been hearing horror stories from our neighbors about the conditions in ICE detention, to the point where hundreds on now on hunger strike in protest behind the gates in New Jersey and California. The deportation machine has made it clear they don’t care, and now they’re moving towards opening a camp at another deeply unsafe location.

A federal women’s prison in Dublin, California was shut down in 2024 after years of horrific staff sexual abuse. Former inmates also reported serious environmental hazards – mold in the malls, water that made folks held there sick. A federal assessment has confirmed the facility is unsafe for habitation and costly to repair. But ICE is still eyeing it for immigration detention. ✍🏻 The Bureau of Prisons is accepting public comments on their assessment through June 1st, and local activists are asking us to speak up in favor of the facility’s demolition. We can find a toolkit with instructions on how to weigh in and talking points and guidance for commenting effectively here. ✍🏿

ICE OUT OF DUBLIN

✊🏾 And let’s continue to push for the country to pay attention to what’s happening at Delaney Hall and Adelanto. We can find actions to take to support the hunger strikers here. ✊🏽

SOLIDARITY WITH HUNGER STRIKERS

HIGHLIGHTING THE DAMAGE OF HEALTH CARE CUTS NEXT WEEK

Our health care system was a profit-driven mess when Trump took office, and as everyone predicted his slashing Medicaid and health care tax credits to pay for tax cuts for billionaires have been devastating for working families. More than a million people have been pushed off of Affordable Care Act coverage, and that number may grow to as much as five million by the year’s end. Those still on are facing an average of $780 in higher premiums and a hike of $1,027 in deductibles. 446 hospitals are at risk of closing. Researchers estimate these cuts will cause over 51,000 preventable deaths a year.

Leading unions, health care advocates, patients, and nurses are holding “Seven Days in June” coordinated actions next week to call out these cuts and demand real investment in public health. They’ll be demanding local, state and federal representatives articulate a clear plan for how they’re going to reverse the damage and build something new, and holding candlelight vigils at sunset on June 5th to honor everyone who has died as a result of cuts to health care. 🪧 We can learn more and find events near us here, and find a toolkit to host an action of our own here. 🪧

WE WON'T FORGET

STILL DEMANDING JUSTICE FOR MAHMOUD KHALIL

There’s been a long pattern of misconduct and bias in the Trump regime’s efforts to silence pro-Palestinian protester Mahmoud Khalil. An immigration court rejected his appeals of his deportation order in an unprecedented nine days – usually, that decision might take years with a noncitizen who isn’t detained. Evidence suggests that the immigration judge and the BIA had already made up their minds to order Mahmoud’s removal before he ever set foot in a courtroom. His case has slipped out of the headlines, and the ACLU wants to signal that the public is still paying attention. ✍🏿 Let’s sign their petition here to demand the Bureau of Immigration Appeals reopen – and then terminate – his case. ✍🏻

STOP TARGETING MAHMOUD KHALIL

HOW TO PROTECT DEMOCRACY BY FIGHTING ANTI-BLACK POLICIES WITH DR. KIMBERLÉ CRENSHAW

The Supreme Court has gutted the Voting Rights Act, and former Confederate states have rushed to take this opportunity to silence Black voices in our democracy. As Nikole Hannah-Jones writes, this could be the largest rollback of Black political power since the end of Reconstruction, a deliberate pattern rooted in anti-Blackness that has shaped American politics for generations. How can we understand these patterns better and what can we do to break them? To answer these questions and more Red, Wine and Blue is hosting a conversation with Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw, one of the most influential legal scholars in the country. Dr. Crenshaw created the concept of intersectionality and her work has been central to civil rights law and racial justice advocacy for decades. Dr. Crenshaw will talk about why anti-Blackness is at the core of so many political attacks today, and what all of us can do to push back against extremism and protect democracy. 🏫 We can sign up here to learn more about fighting back on THURSDAY at 6PM ET here. 🏫

JOIN RWB AND DR. CRENSHAW THURSDAY

👀 KEEPING AN EYE ON… 👀

Find us on Bluesky!

Rogan's List

Discussion about this post

Ready for more?