Imagine asking that question in Texas. And now imagine having an answer to that question.
Wer had some fun with this in last night's Final Word, but it bears a bit more focus and analysis in light of claims that James Talarico can win over Texas voters more effectively than Beto O'Rourke and Colin Allred. The RNC and Ken Paxton's campaign dug up this nugget on Monday afternoon, in which the Democrat nominee for the U.S. Senate was asked whether he had a "favorite drag queen." Not only did Talarico affirm the question, he also had an immediate answer to it:
🚨 WATCH
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 14, 2026
James Talarico says his “favorite drag queen” is Alyssa Edwards — who has described himself as "a drag performer that works with children." pic.twitter.com/u5HNKh4CQt
Ken Paxton then asked the obvious question:
What normal person can name their favorite drag queen this quickly?
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) September 14, 2026
When James Talarico isn’t advocating for children to dress in drag, he’s watching drag performances and saying that Texas produces the best drag queens.
James Talarico is too weird and too radical for Texas.…
The problem, in a nutshell, is that's where Talarico best fits: a nutshell. The question itself reveals Talarico's immersion in the far-left transgressive culture. As one of Paxton's new TV ads points out, Talarico spoke out against a bill in 2023 that would have restricted sexually explicit performances to adult audiences, and only voted present on the bill when legislators later carved out an exception for drag. Talarico later bragged that he defended "the best drag queens in the nation," which could have just been political pandering.
Let's stipulate to common sense here. Drag has long been a part of entertainment, but within the context of adult-themed and adult-targeted entertainment. Drag elements have been used for comedic purposes for decades, and while drag shows aren't mainstream, they weren't controversial until they began targeting children. Until very recently, people did not bring children to drag shows, and drag shows didn't attempt to target or recruit children. Drag shows had a very narrow niche audience until the Queer and trans movements turned them into a grooming effort for minors. And that's when drag started to matter to a lot more voters than it ever had before.
That niche is still narrow enough that having a ready answer to this question suggests deeper and more personal immersion in that far-left subculture. Naming a drag performer who has declared his intention to focus his act on children makes Talarico look not just fringy but downright predatory, as Matt Margolis wrote yesterday:
Let’s do a deep dive into who “Alyssa Edwards” is.
Alyssa Edwards is the stage name of Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson, a performer who has described himself as "a drag performer that works with children," and who has spent years advocating for youth drag shows. Johnson has openly discussed sharing the stage with the young dancers he trains himself. "I remember being at World Pride in New York a few years back and sharing the stage with my dance students, one of the most powerful moments of my life," he told Out magazine.
In fact, the 2018 Netflix docuseries Dancing Queen featured Johnson's work with those young dancers. The Dallas Observer reported that Johnson called one 10-year-old male student his "mini-me," and that the child dressed as Johnson’s drag alter ego during an episode of the show.
Remember when Talarico professed his love for “trans children?” Do you think it’s just a coincidence that his favorite drag queen is one known for working with minors?
No one in their right mind will believe in coincidences this far out on the fringe. It’s one thing to defend freedom of expression, which was a serious consideration in the 2023 legislation and in subsequent (and misguided) attempts to ban drag from college campuses in Texas. It’s another thing entirely to actually maintain scorecards of drag performers and to name as a favorite the drag queen who trains pre-adolescent children as performers.
That may play in Austin, but it won’t play in Texas. Voters here tend to be both broadly if ambiguously libertarian as well as socially conservative. What consenting adults do matters little to them, but when children get recruited and groomed into adult activities, watch out.
Even those particulars may matter less than the cultural implications of this clip. Drag is a fringe, niche pursuit that remains alien to most Texans – and probably most voters even in deep-blue states like California, Minnesota, and New York. Talarico’s obvious immersion highlights a cultural disconnect that cuts directly against his supposed strength as a Presbyterian seminarian, and it adds to the weirdness level that Talarico already exudes in this election cycle. He's a 37-year-old man who still relies on his mother's checking account, whose personal life is somewhat mysterious, immersed in an arguably deviant subculture that has spent the last few years targeting children.
Right now, Paxton and the GOP-aligned PACs are hitting Talarico hard on taxes as well as his comments about "six genders," "God is non-binary," and making trans kids his highest priority. Don't be surprised to see ads linking the latter to Talarico's drag immersion in the near future. It will provide the clearest example of Talarico's position on the fringe – in Texas, and everywhere else.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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