Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico visited Gussie's Tamales in El Paso on October 26 and made tamales with bakery employees ahead of his campaign rally at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Sunday, November 1, 2026, 3:30 p.m. Ken Paxton campaign rally at Orca Event Venue in El Paso (11323 Rojas Drive, El Paso)12
Who's involved
James TalaricoDemocratic U.S. Senate candidate
Rodolpho 'Rudy' GonzalezCo-owner of Gussie's Tamales
Ken PaxtonTexas Attorney General and Republican opponent
The facts
Talarico visited Gussie's Tamales in Central El Paso, one of the city's best-known tamale bakeries.12Stated by 2 sources
Talarico wore an apron and gloves and joined bakery employees in preparing tamales and spreading masa onto corn husks.123Stated by 3 sources
The visit was featured in a video shared on Talarico's campaign social media pages.12Stated by 2 sources
Talarico purchased a dozen red chile pork tamales to take on the road.123Stated by 3 sources
Gussie's Tamales is a family-owned bakery on North Piedras Street that has served El Paso since 1973.3
Ken Paxton is scheduled to visit El Paso on Nov. 1 as part of his campaign 'Come and Take It' tour at Orca Event Venue.12Stated by 2 sources
Who said what
These are statements and claims made by the people involved. They are reported, not verified.
Rodolpho 'Rudy' Gonzalez Talarico shared a story about doing drywall work when younger, and the masa-spreading motion felt familiar to that experience.123
Rodolpho 'Rudy' Gonzalez It was a pleasure having Talarico visit and see him get hands-on with tamale-making.12
How they headlined it
The same event, as each outlet put it. Marked words appear in only one outlet's headline.
James Talarico makes tamales at iconic El Paso bakery
These outlets were found through Google News headlines. Google decides which outlets appear there, and they lean mostly one way, so this sheet can only be as balanced as the reporting it was built from. Leanings are AllSides Media Bias Ratings.
Texas will hold an election for state comptroller on Nov. 3, 2026. Four candidates are running: Republican Don Huffines, Democrat Sarah Eckhardt, Libertarian Alonzo Echavarria-Garza, and Green Party candidate Shehla Faizi.
Don Huffines, Incumbent Republican candidate for Texas comptroller; Sarah Eckhardt, Democratic candidate for Texas comptroller; Alonzo Echavarria-Garza, Libertarian candidate for Texas comptroller and 2 more
Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for Texas governor, has traveled more than 3,000 miles across Texas in nearly two weeks as part of her "One Fight" get-out-the-vote tour that started October 18, holding rallies, visiting college campuses, and meeting voters at polls.
Gina Hinojosa, Democratic nominee for Texas governor; Greg Abbott, Texas governor (mentioned in campaign messaging)
An Abbott campaign ad claims State Representative Gina Hinojosa voted 40 times to raise property taxes. A fact-checker found the claim is true but misleading: 10 bills between 2017 and 2025, with multiple votes per bill counted separately. The 2026 Texas gubernatorial race has tightened as election day approaches.
$Abbott campaign claims governor has delivered historic property tax cuts and will save the average Texas homeowner over $3,000 per year next session; Hinojosa opposed those cuts, according to the Abbott campaign.
Greg Abbott, incumbent governor, Republican candidate for reelection; Gina Hinojosa, state representative, Democratic candidate for governor; Texans for Greg Abbott, political committee paying for the ad and 2 more
Bobby Pulido, a Latin Grammy-winning Tejano music singer, is running as a Democrat to flip Texas's 15th congressional district, which has been represented by Republican Monica De La Cruz since 2023. Pulido held a campaign rally in Weslaco on Sunday with the band Los Tigres del Norte.
Bobby Pulido, Democratic candidate for Texas 15th congressional district; Monica De La Cruz, Republican representative for Texas 15th congressional district since 2023; Los Tigres del Norte, Band that performed at Pulido's rally
A 254 Labs poll conducted Oct. 21-26 surveyed 1,000 registered voters and found Democrats leading Republicans in every statewide race in Texas for the Nov. 3 elections. President Trump campaigned in Texas on Oct. 29 to support Republican candidates, appearing at the Port of Corpus Christi and in Lubbock.
$$45 billion for cost savings from terminating methane regulations
James Talarico, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate; Ken Paxton, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate; Gina Hinojosa, Democratic candidate for governor and 9 more
Texas reported over 5.8 million early votes cast as of late October 2026, representing 21% of the state's roughly 19 million registered voters. Early voting continues through Friday. Texas is showing the highest above-average turnout rate nationally, with surge in voting from border counties with large Hispanic populations.
Erica Smith, Prosper Junior, early voter; Dr. David Bridge, Associate professor of political science; Prof Mike McDonald, Director, University of Florida Election Lab
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office filed a lawsuit Thursday against Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth and director of communications Irene Nuñez, alleging they ran social media advertisements targeting specific racial and ethnic groups. Paxton recused himself from the investigation because he is running for Texas Senate against Democrat James Talarico.
$$40,000 to $43,429 for social media advertising spending
Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General, Republican candidate for Texas Senate; Teneshia Hudspeth, Harris County Clerk; Irene Nuñez, Harris County Clerk's office director of communications and 2 more
A federal jury in Fort Worth convicted Khalwinder Singh Bhengura, a lawful permanent resident from India, of voting illegally in the 2024 presidential election after falsely claiming U.S. citizenship on a Texas driver license application.
$$250,000 for maximum fine for false citizenship claim
Khalwinder Singh Bhengura, Defendant convicted of voting by an alien and falsely claiming citizenship; U.S. District Judge Mark T. Pittman, Judge presiding over trial; U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould, Federal prosecutor making announcement