Talarico hit with ‘blatant corruption’ allegation over hefty salary from consulting firm, campaign pushes back

EXCLUSIVE: Senate Democratic nominee James Talarico, who has repeatedly accused his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, of corruption, is now facing Republican accusations of "blatant corruption" over consulting work he performed for a progressive firm while serving on the Texas House's influential Public Education Committee. Talarico's campaign has denied the allegation as a "lie."

The Lone Star State's Senate race is entering its final stretch, with Talarico leading Paxton in recent polling. A Republican loss could damage the GOP's chances of retaining its Senate majority.

Paxton has projected confidence that, after emerging from a particularly bitter primary race, Texans will respond to his campaign once they hear his message. Talarico, meanwhile, has continued targeting Paxton through major ad buys, including one in which the Democrat calls him "the most corrupt politician in Texas."

Republicans are now responding with allegations of their own, characterizing Talarico's past arrangement with the consulting firm as a "textbook pay-to-play scheme."

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Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico listens to a question during the conclusion of a campaign rally in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 13, 2026. (Getty Images)

They are pointing to paychecks Talarico received from a firm called MAYA Consulting that simultaneously drew in millions in state contracts awarded by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), which he helped provide oversight to as a member of the Public Education Committee.

Talarico announced he was joining MAYA Consulting in a 2019 Facebook post. In the post, he stated that as a consultant he would be "working with districts, nonprofits, and communities to build excellent and equitable educational opportunities for all our students."

According to a Senate campaign financial disclosure filed in 2025, Talarico worked with MAYA Consulting, which has since been rebranded as VIDA Collaborative, from 2019 until 2025.

During those same years, official legislative records show that Talarico served as a voting member of the Texas House's Public Education Committee from 2019 to 2025. Among its responsibilities, the committee oversees the Texas Education Agency, which awards government contracts to firms for services, including then-MAYA Consulting.

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Students walk through the hallway at Cypresswood Elementary in Aldine ISD in Houston, Aug. 20, 2025. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

TEA registers from 2021 and 2022 show that the agency awarded MAYA two contracts worth $3.578 million and $1.635 million, respectively. The contracts were related to priorities Talarico was pushing in the Texas House at the time, including addressing learning loss due to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Talarico’s disclosure shows that he earned $83,333.40 from the nonprofit in 2025, in addition to his $13,904.92 part-time salary as a member of the Texas House of Representatives.

Kassi Longoria, CEO of VIDA Collaborative, confirmed with Fox News Digital that Talarico served as an "independent contractor consultant" with the group from 2019 to 2025. She said that Talarico "has no current role with our organization" and clarified that "during his time at VIDA, his consulting work was structured, specifically to remain separate from his role as a Texas state legislator."

She said that Talarico "never worked under, received compensation from, or was involved in securing any state- or federally-funded contracts." She noted that "as a matter of standard practice, VIDA discloses any outside employment or potential conflicts of interest for our staff — including Rep. Talarico’s legislative role — in our proposals when we apply for publicly-funded opportunities" and that "similarly, Rep. Talarico’s relationship with VIDA was disclosed in his required public financial disclosure filings."

However, Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft accused Talarico of wrongdoing, calling the Democrat’s involvement with MAYA an example of "blatant corruption."

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State Rep. James Talarico, left, and Attorney General Ken Paxton. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images; Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images)

"We are looking at a textbook pay-to-play scheme with James Talarico steering millions in taxpayer funds to his DEI consulting agency under the condition he gets commission through a scam no-show job," Kraft told Fox News Digital.

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As a member of the Texas House's Public Education Committee, Talarico was not involved in TEA's process for awarding outside contracts and did not vote on the contracts. Fox News Digital is also not aware of any evidence that Talarico received a commission for contracts awarded to MAYA, a claim that both the organization and Talarico’s campaign denied.

Kraft alleged that Talarico is "one of the most morally bankrupt individuals to ever run for public office in Texas."

JT Ennis, a spokesperson for Talarico's campaign, pushed back, saying, "This is a lie."

Ennis said that "James’ relationship to MAYA was fully disclosed in compliance with Texas House rules" and that "James had no involvement in MAYA Consulting securing any public contracts and his contract with MAYA barred him from representing MAYA before the Texas Legislature or education agencies."

"Ken Paxton is making up lies about James to distract from the fact that he’s been impeached by his own party for bribery, reported to the FBI by his own staff, and indicted for investment fraud for scamming his own friends," Ennis alleged, while adding, "Ken Paxton is the most corrupt politician in Texas, and this November, Republicans, Democrats, and independents will come together to reject Ken Paxton’s corruption and stand up to this broken, corrupt political system."

In July 2015, Paxton was indicted on charges that he misled and defrauded tech startup investors and failed to disclose that the startup was paying him to promote its stock. Prosecutors agreed in 2024 to drop the charges under a deal requiring Paxton to pay about $271,000 in restitution, perform 100 hours of community service and complete 15 hours of legal ethics courses. Paxton did not enter a plea under the agreement and was never convicted.

Meanwhile, Madison Cercy, a spokeswoman for Paxton's campaign, told Fox News Digital, "It couldn’t be clearer: James Talarico sees Texans tax dollars as his own personal slush fund."

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Fox News Digital is not aware of any evidence that Talarico has misused tax dollars.

Cercy called Talarico a "taxpayer-funded DEI consultant whose employer receives millions of dollars from Texans while pushing radical ideology in our schools."