Are we really talking about Texas breakfast tacos?
Talarico reacts to Paxton’s nomination for U.S. Senate
Democratic state Rep. James Talarico shared a video on social media Tuesday night reacting to Texas Gov. Ken Paxton being named his opponent in the November election.
Fox – 26 Houston
LUBBOCK, Texas – Nothing says Texas like oil derricks, Longhorn cattle, and of course, barbecue.
So when Texas Senate Democratic candidate James Talarico ordered a potato, egg and cheese breakfast taco during a visit to an Austin taco joint with President Barack Obama in early May, a chorus of Republicans, political commentators, Texans and non-Texans alike, chimed in and criticized the Central Texas lawmaker’s meatless diet.
“Potatoes with eggs and cheese? Homie hasn’t defeated the vegetarian suspicions,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said on his campaign’s X account.
As the high-profile Senate race heats up in Texas, Talarico’s opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Republican allies, including President Donald Trump, are portraying Democrats as isolated and too radical for the Lone Star State, especially when it comes to beef, the state’s main industry.
“He’s a vegan in Texas. You can’t get elected as a vegan in Texas,” President Trump told reporters on May 20. In his May 26 victory speech after defeating Republican Sen. John Cornyn in a runoff election, Paxton nicknamed his Democratic opponent “Tofu Talarico” and again accused him of being vegan.
“It’s hard to imagine a more radical person,” Paxton said.
Talarico denies that she is a vegan. And he’s also clearly not afraid to go head-to-head with Paxton, who has been impeached by his colleagues in Congress and prosecuted by fellow Texas attorneys in recent years.
“I’m an 8th generation Texan. I’ve been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton was first indicted. And I feel pretty good about my chances this November, even if all they lie about is me being vegan,” Talarico said in a May 26 interview on the Meidas Touch podcast.
How did the vegan rumors start?
For a long time, Republicans have been recirculating statements Talarico made about meat consumption in 2022, even before Talarico’s taco orders made headlines earlier this month.
In an April 2022 interview with the Texas Human Legislative Network, an animal rights nonprofit, Talarico said she was reducing her meat consumption as part of her efforts to combat climate change.
“I’m proud to say our campaign is now officially a no-meat campaign,” he said at the time. “We only buy vegan products from local vegan businesses.”
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz shared these comments about X on March 17, saying, “Look, this weirdo wants to ban barbecue. That’s not Texas.”
Cornyn also shared a clip of his March 17 remarks.
“Vote Republican this November. The stakes couldn’t be higher,” Cornyn wrote, cleverly using the word “stakes.”
That same month, Talarico’s campaign spokesperson JT Ennis issued a public response to the vegan declaration on behalf of his boss, sharing a photo of Talarico wearing a button-down with a Texas flag design and nibbling on a giant turkey leg. Since then, campaign videos and photos have shown him eating barbecue, chicken and steak while making stops around the state.
If he was careful about his beef intake – the message seemed to be – he certainly wasn’t anymore.
Why beef culture and agriculture are important in Texas
Some of Talarico’s critics criticized his masculinity, citing his support for the LGBTQ+ community and his previously unmanly views on avoiding meat.
Because of Texas’ deep ties to cattle ranching, beef, and agriculture, comments about meat consumption are likely to carry more political weight than in many other states.
According to the Texas Department of Agriculture, Texas leads the nation in the number of cows and calves with more than 12 million cows and calves. That’s about 15% of U.S. cattle production and more than double the herd populations of the next most stocked states, Kansas and California (each reported at less than 6 million head in the most recent census data).
Although the importance of beef here goes far beyond economics and cuisine, historians often describe Texas’ barbecue culture as a reflection of the state’s layered immigrant history, traditions brought by the communities that have shaped Texas for generations.
According to the Texas Historical Society, German and Czech immigrants who settled in Central Texas in the 1800s introduced the tradition of meat smoking and butcher shops, which later became the basis for what many now recognize as classic Texas barbecue. Mexican and Tejano traditions influenced barbacoa and slow-cooked meats throughout South Texas. African American pitmasters helped shape East Texas’ barbecue tradition, spreading the techniques, flavors, and restaurant traditions throughout the state. West Texas developed a ranching culture and open-fire cooking that became known as “cowboy barbecue.”
Over time, these influences became integrated into a distinctly Texas food culture, tied to family gatherings, church events, county fairs, football games, political campaigns, and rural identity.
The prominence of beef in Texas has also given rise to a sub-industry that showcases and preserves beef, which is reflected in movies and the broader cultural narrative about the state. Texas Monthly and other publications have long employed pitmasters, smokehouses and avid barbecue writers who chronicle local traditions with the same seriousness often given to fine dining.
The 1956 epic “Giant,” featuring Hollywood’s biggest stars of the day, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean, centered on a powerful Texas ranching family and helped establish cattle ranching in the state’s cultural imagination. Decades later, the ranch remained a defining symbol of Texas identity through series such as “Dallas,” which debuted in 1978 and became a global television phenomenon. That legacy continues in modern Western series, including the 2026 Yellowstone spinoff Dutton Ranch, which follows Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler as they move to a South Texas ranch.
Outside of Hollywood, real-life ranching has become its own cultural brand. Spread across South Texas, the King Ranch, anchored in Kingsville, and the nearly 266,000-acre Four Sixes Ranch, centered in Guthrie, are recognized far beyond the agricultural field, while events like the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and destinations like the Fort Worth Stockyards continue to draw millions through celebration of Texas’ cattle ranching heritage.
Taken together, these cultural currents help explain why food, especially meat, plays an outsized symbolic role in Texas politics. In Texas, the official state dish adopted in 1977 is chili, which is characterized by its significant meat base.
breakfast tacos 101
In another important Texas issue, Talarico’s order of meatless tacos reignited rumors that Democrats are raping Texans. error.
Breakfast tacos have long been a staple of Tex-Mex cuisine. From convenience store tacos at gas stations like Stripes and Valeros to mom-and-pop joints in South and Central Texas, you can find your go-to meals anywhere, and almost any breakfast combination is up to you.
The eggs, potatoes, and cheese that Talarico ordered on that fateful May day in Austin are not vegan dishes because they contain animal products, but they are common items found prominently on many restaurant menus.
In a September 2025 interview on the Taco Policy podcast, Talarico said that his typical taco order is actually a bacon and egg taco on a flour tortilla, another common combination for breakfast taco lovers.
“I love tacos for breakfast, so I ordered my favorite bacon and eggs on flour. That’s what fueled me back in Austin, it fueled me when I was a teacher in San Antonio, and it still fuels me on the campaign trail,” the Democrat said.
At the very least, it’s food for further conversation heading into November.
