Paxton’s testosterone attacks reshape Texas Senate contest

Paxton’s “low-T” – In Texas’ high-stakes U.S. Senate race, Ken Paxton’s first general-election ad turns on a question Republicans are betting on: whether his opponent, state Sen. James Talarico, is “man enough.” From “low-T” jabs to claims about “biological sexes” and Talarico’s

The first swing of the general election in Texas landed not on a voting record, but on a single, loaded question: is the Democrat a “real man?”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, having clinched the GOP’s nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday night, released his first general-election ad Wednesday aimed at state Sen. James Talarico. In it. Paxton accuses his opponent of being too “low-T for Texas.” “Low-T” is a reference to testosterone levels. and it’s commonly used as an insult by influencers in the so-called manosphere—where low testosterone is framed as weakness.

That line didn’t stay confined to Texas. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. described as the architect of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy and one of his top advisers. amplified a similar attack on Wednesday by posting on the social media platform X that Democrats had nominated “their first transgender senate candidate.” Talarico is cisgender and identifies as an LGBTQ+ ally; he is in a relationship with a woman.

For Trump’s Republican Party, the insistence on testosterone and manliness is not new. In 2016, Trump appeared on Dr. Mehmet Oz’s talk show to highlight his testosterone levels as proof of his health and manliness. Oz now serves as head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under Trump.

Monika McDermott, a political scientist at Fordham University who studies masculinity in politics, said the shift is increasingly deliberate. “It isn’t new to the ethos of America — the masculine as everything — but it is much more politically forward now thanks to Trump than it used to be. ” she said. “Now it’s the game plan of most Republicans to try to play on having the more masculine party and being able to claim that liberals and progressives are weak and feminine and not masculine enough for America.”.

Even before Paxton’s Tuesday night victory. Republicans had been building a narrower. more personal line of attack—essentially calling Talarico effeminate or gay. Wesley Hunt. a Republican congressman who also lost in the Senate primary. posted “what’s his name” when Talarico confirmed in an interview last week that he had a partner who is a woman.

Texas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988. Yet Democrats see an opening they believe could finally crack that history, fueled by Talarico’s ability to energize their side and by hopes that record-setting campaign fundraising can help flip the seat.

The race is drawing attention as a close contest. Polling suggests a tight general election between Talarico and Paxton. who was endorsed by Trump and won the runoff with incumbent Sen. John Cornyn handily but has spent much of his public life embroiled in controversy. In 2023. Paxton was impeached by the Republican-led state House of Representatives on charges of bribery. abuse of office and obstruction of justice. He was then acquitted.

After Paxton’s Tuesday night victory, the Cook Political Report updated its assessment of the race from “Likely Republican” to only “Lean Republican.”

Talarico’s campaign, for its part, has tried to center that controversy. In his first ad of the general election. Talarico focused on Paxton’s impeachment trial and highlighted news clips to argue that the attorney general is corrupt. In a television interview, he called his opponent the “most corrupt politician in America.”.

Some Republicans have also worried that Paxton’s personal difficulties could weaken him. They have pointed to the fact that his wife filed for divorce last July on what she called “biblical grounds.”

Paxton’s counter is to lean into a more conservative version of masculinity and make the case that it will sway Texas voters. In the same Wednesday ad. Paxton highlighted a clip from 2021 in which Talarico said there are “six biological sexes”—referring to humans having six chromosomal karyotypes. including XX. XY. XXY. XYY. XXXY and X. The ad also points to an interview in which Talarico expressed compassion for trans children.

Paxton’s ad further highlights a clip from 2022 where Talarico said his state Senate campaign had become a “non-meat campaign.” Trump and other Republicans have falsely accused Talarico of being vegan. The Democratic nominee recently ordered breakfast tacos with egg. cheese and potatoes at a campaign event; neither eggs nor cheese are vegan.

McDermott said the approach is already showing results for Republicans. “This is clearly the way Republicans are going to talk as long as it’s successful for them – which it has been for Trump, certainly,” she said.

The insults run through a familiar subculture. Commentators in the manosphere often suggest that avoiding or eating less meat makes someone a “soy boy,” a slur tied to a false notion that eating soybeans lowers testosterone levels and raises estrogen.

Talarico pushed back publicly on the charge that he’s trying to prove something about food at the expense of strength. He told CBS News on Wednesday that he has “been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment.”

At the same time. Paxton’s campaign has not just targeted tone—it has leaned on a hardline record on gender-affirming care. In office, Paxton has specifically gone after medical providers who offer gender-affirming care. His office issued a legal opinion in March meant to discourage mental health professionals from counseling trans kids about their gender. and in 2022 his office labeled gender-affirming care for minors as “child abuse.” In 2023. his office investigated Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. accusing the hospital of providing such care for minors; this month. the state reached a settlement involving making the hospital open a clinic focused on “detransitioning” young people.

Placed side by side. the elements of this race begin to look less like a traditional policy fight and more like a battle over identity and cultural credibility—where accusations about testosterone levels. “biological sexes. ” and meat-eating become political tools aimed at defining who is trustworthy. who is “weak. ” and who belongs.

For Democrats hoping to end Texas’ Senate drought since 1988, the challenge is to keep the conversation from hardening into mockery. For Paxton. the calculation is that masculinity—made concrete through slurs and clips—can outvote the scandal stories swirling around his record. including the impeachment he survived after the Republican-led House charged him with bribery. abuse of office and obstruction of justice.

Texas Senate race Ken Paxton James Talarico Stephen Miller testosterone low-T manosphere LGBTQ ally gender-affirming care trans children impeachment John Cornyn Cook Political Report December 1988 Democratic Senate