Black civic group blasts Talarico campaign over canceled event: Deeply disappointed

Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico is facing lingering frustration from inside his own political backyard over the cancellation of an event that was supposed to take place on Oct. 5 with a Black civic-service group.

The Central Texas African American Civic Engagement Symposium (CT-AACES) expressed deep frustration in an email, sent to the Talarico campaign and obtained by Fox News Digital, after the campaign cancelled an event – which had 325 confirmed registrants – during Talarico's two-week absence from the campaign trail due to illness.

CT-AACES said the cancellation left them with "irrecoverable financial loss," and that Talarico's campaign had not engaged in rescheduling efforts

"While we understand Representative Talaricos health required priority, we are deeply disappointed by the campaigns decision to issue a flat cancellation rather than committing to a rescheduled date," the email reads. "It was a missed opportunity for Representative Talarico to directly address community skepticism and demonstrate the sincerity of his commitment to Central Texas African Americans."

The cancellation is the most recent instance of the tensions that Talarico's campaign has faced with the Black community. It also casts doubt on the effectiveness of his efforts to reach Black voteBlack voters through a $25 million outreach pledge aimed at mobilizing black voters is fully reaching the ground.

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The frustration isnt isolated to CT-AACES.

At least one Austin-area Democratic operative who has met directly with Talarico told Fox News Digital that she remains frustrated by what she described as uneven follow-through on outreach to Black Democrats and candidates further down the ballot.

"Black voters aren't a monolith," the source cautioned, rejecting any blanket assertion that Black Texans distrust Talarico outright. "I think that there are pockets that do. There's a pocket that doesnt. And then there's the pocket that's really unsure," she said.

The operative, who previously ran for Talarico's prior state House seat and spoke to Fox News Digital, is particularly familiar with the nominee and the Democratic organizing landscape in the Austin region.

Asked about a $25 million investment to focus on door-knocking in Black neighborhoods, in-person community events and engagement with Black churches, the source said those investments havent manifested yet.

"We haven't received the money, but we're being told it's coming," she said of some accounts she has heard from the ground. "We received, you know, one or 2% of what we were told we were going to get. And then it's been silence since," she said.

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The comments come after Talarico appeared on a Black voter coalition Zoom last week, delivering brief remarks about "put[ting] in the money … time … and effort to win" before his feed disappeared from the call reportedly without a public question-and-answer session. At the July Houston town hall where Talarico announced the $25 million pledge, nurse Kandice Webber confronted him as the event approached its scheduled end and demanded that he remain to answer questions. "Black people dont trust you for this reason," she said, according to

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