State Rep. James Talarico (D-District 50), Texas’ Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, did not answer questions from The Dallas Express about whether lawmakers should be prohibited from dating employees they supervise after his campaign provided conflicting accounts of when he began dating his former chief of staff.
DX sent the campaign four questions Tuesday, including whether Talarico supports an equivalent Texas restriction and whether it should cover paid and unpaid interns. The outlet also asked when his relationship with former chief of staff Brianna Menard began and whether he has dated any other legislative employee or intern while in office.
The campaign did not respond by publication.
Campaign Offers Conflicting Accounts
The New York Times reported Aug. 6 that Talarico’s relationship with Menard began while she remained a top aide.
“Four years ago, after he and his then-chief of staff developed feelings for each other and started dating, she left the office,” campaign spokesman JT Ennis said.
That account conflicts with a statement the campaign provided to Texas Scorecard on June 1. The earlier statement said Talarico and Menard developed feelings while she worked as his chief of staff but did not begin dating until after she left his office.
Current Revolt publicly identified Menard in May. Menard, now a registered health care lobbyist, served as Talarico’s legislative director and then chief of staff before departing in early 2023.
Townhall reported June 8 that Talarico had previously dated Irma Reyes, citing archived social media posts. Reyes worked in legislative roles in the Texas House but not for Talarico. She later confirmed that the relationship had ended five years earlier but declined further comment, according to Texas Scorecard. Talarico’s campaign did not answer whether there have been other staff relationships or any involving interns.
The campaign previously called an abuse-of-office allegation from the campaign of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) “baseless” and asked the public to respect Menard’s privacy, The New York Times reported. Texas House rules do not prohibit consensual relationships between members and staff, the newspaper reported.
House Weighs Broader Restriction
The questions come as a women-led bipartisan House working group considers whether to recommend expanding the chamber’s existing prohibition on member-staffer sexual relationships to all House employees.
Current U.S. House rules prohibit members from engaging in a sexual relationship with an employee they supervise or an employee of a committee on which they serve. The definition of employee expressly includes paid and unpaid interns, internship applicants and other employment applicants.
The working group, led by U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Florida) and U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-New Mexico), has not released a final proposal. Separate resolutions introduced in July by U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank (R-Colorado) and U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) would broaden the prohibition to additional House employees. Both remain pending before the House Committee on Ethics.
The House rules and proposals do not apply to senators, candidates or Texas lawmakers. DX asked Talarico whether he would support a comparable rule in the Texas Legislature but received no answer.
The campaign also did not answer questions DX sent in July about the timeline of Talarico’s residency inside the district he represents.
Provided by Dallas Express
