Vance Campaigns for Paxton in Texas Senate Race as Paxton Touts Detransition Clinic

Vice President JD Vance campaigned in Texas on Thursday for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, criticizing Democrat James Talarico over energy policy and transgender issues in a closely contested race for the U.S. Senate. Paxton, the state attorney general, won President Donald Trump's endorsement over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary. Talarico is a Democratic state representative. In May, Paxton's first general-election ad called Talarico "Too Low-T for Texas," and his campaign has since continued to emphasize masculinity and traditional gender roles.

Separately, Paxton announced that Texas Children's Hospital has opened what his office calls the nation's first detransition clinic. It fulfills a requirement of a May settlement in which the hospital agreed to pay $10 million over allegations that it improperly billed Texas Medicaid for prohibited gender-transition treatments for minors. The clinic must provide detransition-related care through age 21 and obstetric and gynecologic care for older patients. The settlement also ended the medical privileges of several physicians.

Vox, the left-leaning outlet, frames the race around Paxton's masculinity messaging. It notes that pollsters rarely ask about the issue, ties the ad to Trump's 2024 appeal to young men and the "manosphere," and cites Texas stereotypes. Its excerpt does not mention Vance or the clinic. Newsmax, on the right, leads with Vance's visit and his criticism of Talarico on energy and transgender issues, and stresses how tight the race is. Its excerpt does not mention the masculinity ads. The two sides agree that Paxton is the Republican nominee and Talarico his opponent, but they cover different parts of the campaign. ZeroHedge, an alternative outlet, differs from both. It covers the clinic and settlement from Paxton's office's perspective and says nothing about the Senate race in its excerpt.