Willie Nelson endorses James Talarico. See who else has his support

Country music legend Willie Nelson is throwing his support behind Democrat James Talarico in the race for U.S. Senate in Texas.

Talarico's campaign announced the endorsement in an Oct. 8 post on X, sharing a video of the 93-year-old Texas music icon encouraging voters to support the Democratic candidate going up against Attorney General Ken Paxton.

"I've gotten to know James Talarico. He's a good man, who will be a good senator for the state of Texas. Please vote and vote for James Talarico," Nelson said.

The endorsement comes just days after Nelson publicly backed Gina Hinojosa, who is challenging Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in the November election. Nelson also endorsed Democrat Vikki Goodwin, who is running for lieutenant governor.

Nelson, a longtime supporter of Democratic candidates, has increasingly lent his voice to Texas politics ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, most recently blasting data centers in the Lone Star State.

The country music legend has publicly supported several Democratic presidential candidates over the decades, including Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, along with former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

In Texas, Nelson has also backed former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, performing at campaign events during his 2018 U.S. Senate race and 2022 gubernatorial campaign.

The Abbott, Texas, native took to social media on July 28, criticizing the rapidly increasing facilities powering artificial intelligence, especially in his hometown. He called them "loud, water thieving" and "light polluting" in an open letter posted on X.

"I grew up in Abbott, and I still have a home there with farmed land where I can still see stars at night," Nelson, 93, wrote. "And now our community, like many others, needs to fight against data centers invading our land."

Paxton vs Talarico polls

A YouGov poll released Oct. 6 surveyed 3,625 likely voters in Texas and found that James Talarico leads Ken Paxton 50%-44% — outside the poll's margin of error of 3 percentage points. — in the Texas Senate race.

Here's what September and October polls showed:

• The New York Times (Oct. 3) — Talarico 51%, Paxton 45%.
• Fox News (Oct. 1) — Talarico 51%, Paxton 49%.
• Big Data Poll (Sept. 27) — Talarico 47%, Paxton 45%.
• Marist Poll (Sept. 23) — Talarico 50%, Paxton 44%.
• Texas Southern University (Sept. 22) — Talarico 47%, Paxton 46%.
• ReconMR Texas Poll (Sept. 17) — Talarico 49%, Paxton 43%.
• Emerson College (Sept. 17) — Talarico 47%, Paxton 46%.

Natassia Paloma may be reached at [email protected], @NatassiaPaloma on X, natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma on Facebook.