Paxton won’t say whether James Talarico is going to hell

EXCLUSIVE — Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton declined to take a position on recent comments that his opponent James Talarico is destined for eternal damnation, insisting instead that what happens to Talarico is “up to God.”

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he has “never seen so much blasphemy from anyone running for office” in a speech earlier this month at the state’s GOP convention. Patrick added that Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian and Democratic state representative, is “going to Hell, for sure.” Patrick repeated those comments when Paxton appeared on his podcast this week, though the attorney general did not respond directly to them.