A popular saying that has emerged in recent years as more and more people from the Golden State flee from the oppressive government and poor economy they helped create and move into red states like Texas is “Don’t California my Texas,” a sentiment that captures how the Lone Star State really feels toward the coastal cesspool bubbling with progressive ideology. And now the use of California as a pejorative has entered its Senate race.
“[Republican Texas Attorney General] Ken Paxton clearly misses his old home in California,” an account connected to Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico’s campaign stated in a post on Facebook. Paxton, however, responded to the comment by painting his opponent’s attack on his childhood home as an insult to his father’s military service.
Paxton’s response includes a clip of the attorney general saying, “I like places in California, even though I don’t like to admit that I go to California.” Talarico, a man who has attempted to appeal to faith-based voters by touting his Christianity, which is mostly gutted of traditional, biblical beliefs, continued his assault on his opponent by calling him a “California transplant.”
According to a report from The Daily Caller, Paxton’s dad, Warren Kenneth Paxton Sr., served in the U.S. Air Force as a B-52 pilot, according to a post published on the attorney general’s Facebook. Like the vast majority of military families, the Paxtons moved around a lot. They started at an Air Force base in Minot, North Dakota, where Paxton’s father was born, to other states around the country like Florida, New York, North Carolina, California, and Oklahoma.
Unsurprisingly, when the outlet reached out to the Talarico campaign for a comment on the back-and-forth, they did not respond. The Texas Democrat has made it clear he vehemently opposes President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans’ major 2025 tax and spending bill, which contained quality of life upgrades for military families, a fact Paxton’s campaign was quick to point out.
“It is outrageous that Talarico is attacking the Attorney General for growing up in a military family, claiming that if you weren’t born in Texas you aren’t a Texan,” Paxton campaign spokesperson Madison Cercy said in comments delivered to The Daily Caller. Cercy had some further harsh words for Talarico and his attack on military families.
“I would like Talarico to tell the 1.7 million military families and veterans that Texas is home to that statement or better yet, tell them about the $9 billion in funding for troop/military family quality of life and the $2.9 billion to boost the basic housing allowance that he wanted to deny them,” Cercy went on to say.
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The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025, featured $9 billion for troop and military family quality-of-life initiatives such as making improvements to public schools that serve a large number of military kids, additional spending for child care, and much-needed upgrades to barracks, according to information from the National Military Family Association.
The bill also included $2.9 billion more for the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) that helps to provide service members with money to help warriors serving the country pay their rent or mortgage payments. “The Attorney General’s father served this country with honor, and it’s outrageous that anyone seeking public office in the United States could use a father’s military service as a political attack,” Cercy continued.
Paxton has focused the majority of his campaign on portraying Talarico as someone who is out of touch with Texas values, pointing to a series of fundraisers in San Francisco to back up his narrative. Reports revealed that Talarico attended at least four Bay Area fundraisers in mid-April that featured a number of prominent Democratic Party donors within the technology space. “He went to San Francisco to raise money. In my opinion, those are his people. They’re not in Texas,” Paxton said.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video