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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Texas Senate candidate James Talarico's clash with a voter over abortion rights earlier this month quickly went viral, and it could prove the difference in a race where most polls show the split with Republican Ken Paxton within the margin of error.
Self-described "one-issue voter" Jodi Hunt asked during a CNN town hall on October 14 how Talarico, a state lawmaker and Presbyterian seminarian, could be trusted to protect the lives of all Texans when he supports abortion rights.
Social media clips of the exchange have collectively reached millions, speaking to the strength of feeling on both sides across the country. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the U.S. has adopted a patchwork of laws, clearing the way for states to restrict abortion.
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In response to Hunt, Talarico said the Bible "was silent on abortion" and spoke of the deadly consequences of Texas' abortion ban. Hunt replied: "I just want to add that the Bible is not silent on abortion. There is the Ten Commandments: 'Thou shall not kill.'"
In Texas, few rank abortion rights as their top issue, yet many want change or think it has been poorly handled, polling suggests.
Only 2 percent of the 861 likely voters surveyed selected abortion as their "most important" issue in a poll conducted by the University of Texas and the Texas Politics Project from September 25 to October 5. Meanwhile, issues such as the cost of living (21 percent) and the economy (15 percent) have dominated the race. The survey has a margin of error plus or minus 3.34 percentage points.
Newsweek has contacted the Paxton and Talarico campaigns for comment via email.
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Costas Panagopoulos, a professor of political science at Northeastern University, told Newsweek that issues such as affordability, the economy, immigration and the war in Iran are eclipsing abortion as top issues in this midterm cycle.
"If the Texas Senate race is ultimately decided by a razor-thin margin, however, abortion considerations could tip the scale," he said.
A June poll by the Texas Politics Project found that 43 percent of Texans wanted abortion laws in the state to be less strict. A similar number, 39 percent, disapproved strongly of how state leaders and the Legislature had handled abortion policy, according to an August poll conducted by the same pollster.
"Abortion may not cause huge numbers of voters to switch parties, but if it pushes pro-choice voters toward Talarico or anti-abortion voters toward Paxton—and gets them to actually turn out—that margin could be decisive in a very close election," Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at the University of Houston, told Newsweek.
Texas Women Denied Abortion Send Message
Texas' near-total abortion ban is one of the strictest in the nation. Under Texas law, doctors face felony criminal charges if they perform an abortion in all but limited cases in which the life of the patient is in danger.
As the state's attorney general, Paxton has defended and enforced the law, prompting evangelical pastors and anti-abortion groups to support his Senate bid. CNN said Paxton was invited to participate in the town hall, but he did not.
Lauren Miller and Kaitlyn Kash were among a group of 22 plaintiffs who sued Texas in 2023 after they were denied abortions despite having serious pregnancy complications.
They sought an amendment to the state's abortion law to clarify when medically necessary abortions could be performed, arguing that confusion among doctors meant they turned away women experiencing complications out of fear of repercussions. The Texas Supreme Court rejected the challenge in 2024, saying the law's exceptions were broad enough.
In interviews with Newsweek, Miller and Kash said they want undecided voters to consider the consequences of electing Paxton to the Senate.
"He did not write the abortion bans, but he has made damn sure that we would suffer by them," Miller, who traveled out of state for an abortion in October 2022 after finding out one of the twins she was expecting had a fatal condition, told Newsweek.
"It's his dogged approach that has ensured that people are not accessing care, because everybody knows that he will come after them with civil and criminal penalties as much as he can," she continued.
Miller added: "We've lost basic human rights. For half the state, we can't make our own medical decisions even when we're getting into the midst of a medical emergency, like I was. So for a freedom-loving state, that seems pretty anti-Texan."
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Both women are backing Talarico, a former middle school teacher and state representative, who is hoping to become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Texas since 1988.
Kash, a mother of two from Austin, said she is supporting Talarico's campaign via fundraising and grassroots organizing.
She said of the failed legal challenge: "We felt like we needed to do it because we knew that the harm would just continue to happen. And instead of listening, Ken Paxton, the attorney general who is supposed to represent all Texans, fought us at every step."
She pointed to a lawsuit filed in September by the family of Tierra Walker, alleging the state's abortion ban led to her death. Walker was 20 weeks pregnant when she died in December 2024.
"He owes Tierra Walker's family an answer," Kash said of Paxton, who is a defendant in the lawsuit. "But I think he owes all Texans an answer."
The Walker case has moved from Texas state court to federal court and is now pending in the Western District of Texas, where Judge Jason Pulliam has set the rules governing the case. However, he has not yet ruled on the merits or dismissed any claims.
"This is not about one issue," Kash added. "This is about putting someone in office who will do something good, not just continue to try to take away our rights and our freedoms."
Anti-Abortion Groups Commend Paxton
Paxton's record on abortion has drawn support from leading anti-abortion groups.
Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life Action, told Newsweek that the group is supporting Paxton in the race "because of his fierce defense of preborn babies and their mothers, along with lifesaving laws."
Hawkins added that Talarico "really needs to be Sunday Schooled on what the Bible actually says about the least of these, and God's views on killing the innocent. Sometimes in a race, you vote for a candidate, and sometimes you vote against one. In Texas, we can do both."
Amy O'Donnell, the executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, said the group has not endorsed in the Senate race, but that Paxton "fulfilled his duty to defend our pro-life state laws in Zurawski v. Texas, and we commend his effort."
O'Donnell said the Texas Supreme Court "upheld the constitutionality of the Human Life Protection Act while affirming that the medical necessity exception allows doctors to intervene to save the life or health of the mother before the threat becomes imminent. The court also upheld that Texas law does not include exceptions for fetal anomalies."
"Texas Alliance for Life does not support such exceptions," she continued. "All babies deserve life and protection, regardless of diagnosis or condition."
Where Talarico and Paxton Stand on Abortion
Neither Talarico nor Paxton have emphasized abortion on the campaign trail.
At the CNN town hall, Talarico outlined his position. "We currently see in Texas women dying in emergency room parking lots from sepsis because their doctors are too afraid to provide lifesaving care," he said. "We talk about Texas women, but it's also Texas girls. We see girls as young as 10 years old who need that abortion care, and they can't get it in Texas."
"If we are authentically pro-life, I think we should be disturbed by the outcomes of this extreme abortion ban," he continued.
Cal Jillson, a professor of political science at Texas' Southern Methodist University, said he believed Talarico's approach could resonate with voters.
"I think Talarico's approach to discussing abortion—which is not to be starkly pro-abortion, but to argue that Texas' current abortion law outlaws abortion even in cases of rape, incest and life of the mother—is an effective formulation," he told Newsweek.
"Most Texans are aware that women and girls have had to leave the state to receive abortion services or have experienced life-threatening conditions because doctors were afraid to treat them. Few voters would be interested in punishing a candidate that called for a better balance than current law permits between the life of the fetus and the life of the mother," he continued.
Paxton has repeatedly defended Texas' abortion law, arguing that the state's medical exception already protects women facing serious pregnancy complications.
After the state Supreme Court rejected the challenge in 2024, he said, "I will continue to defend the laws enacted by the Legislature and uphold the values of the people of Texas by doing everything in my power to protect mothers and babies."
Talarico and Paxton have sharply different positions on abortion, Rottinghaus said, and though it might not be the top issue for most right now, "it can be especially powerful as a turnout issue among younger women and highly motivated voters on both sides."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Cannon and Shakeema Edwards.
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