CORPUS CHRISTI — James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa, who will lead Texas Democrats’ ticket in November, closed the first full day of their party’s state convention Friday with speeches that sharply focused on populist economic politics and accused Republicans of fixating on culture wars to distract from what they cast as the ruling party’s corruption and hollowing out of the middle class.

Talarico, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, trained his fire on billionaire political influence, as he has throughout his campaign, and on Attorney General Ken Paxton, his newly anointed Republican opponent whom he labeled “the most corrupt politician in America” and a “puppet” of GOP megadonors.

“Our state is being taken over by a new kind of tyrant: billionaire megadonors,” Talarico said. “They’re not invading with an army. They’re just buying the system.”

Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for governor, made a parallel case, railing against Gov. Greg Abbott as beholden to his wealthy donors and making working Texans worse off.

“He is masterful at the sleight of hand — no one is better at it,” Hinojosa said. “With one hand, up here, he points to your neighbor, so you don’t see his other hand down here in your pocket.”

It was virtually the same notion Talarico advanced when he followed Hinojosa on stage to end the night. The Senate nominee in particular has faced a cascade of GOP attacks about his past comments on politically explosive issues ranging from the rights of trans Texans to provocative remarks about Christianity. Plainly looking to steer clear of those issues, Talarico re-upped his refrain that “billionaires who own the social media algorithms, who own the cable news networks, who own the politicians fighting on our screens — they’re turning neighbor against neighbor, weakening that spirit of friendship that makes Texas so great.”

“They divide us by party, by race, by gender, by religion so we don’t notice that they’re picking our pockets,” he said, invoking the same metaphor as Hinojosa. “It’s the oldest strategy in the world: Divide and conquer. But Texas will not be conquered.”

The speeches from Talarico and Hinojosa, both of whom are state lawmakers from Austin, continued the anti-corruption theme Democrats up and down the ballot pushed while addressing the convention Friday. Hinojosa has dubbed higher everyday costs borne by Texans as the “Greg Abbott Corruption Tax,” pointing to alleged examples such as the governor’s prized school voucher program and no-bid contracts awarded by agencies helmed by Abbott appointees.

Democratic leaders in Texas and across the nation have largely acknowledged that, after a disastrous showing with working-class voters in 2024, the party needs to recast itself as the side looking out for blue-collar voters; they’ve done that by focusing intensely on kitchen table issues, rejecting the influence of big-money interests and seeking to tie the sway of Republican billionaire megadonors to higher costs for middle class Texans.

Texas Republicans have pushed back, arguing Democrats are the ones pushing a “socialist” policy agenda that would drive up costs if they’re ever given the power. In counterprogramming throughout the first day-and-a-half of the Democratic convention, Abbott’s campaign launched a site, “RadicalTexas,” attacking Democrats for their positions on property taxes, education, immigration and public safety. Paxton, too, aired an ad in Corpus Christi this weekend accusing Talarico of pursuing a “radical agenda,” that would leave “families broke and jobless.”

Talarico took his own helping of shots at Paxton during his speech, emphasizing his own eight generations of Texas roots and contrasting it with Paxton’s history of being born in North Dakota and raised in California. Talarico likened his GOP foe to the “obnoxious,” “loud” guy who “makes all the women in the bar feel uncomfortable” and “adds his drink to your tab when you’re not looking.”

“That’s Ken Paxton, and I don’t know about y’all, but I’m done picking up his tab,” Talarico said.

Both Democrats at the top of the ticket have sworn off corporate PAC donations, and Talarico has made banning super PACs, partisan gerrymandering and congressional stock trading a highlight of his platform. His campaign has benefited, though, from billionaire contributions to a super PAC that is supporting Talarico but cannot legally coordinate with him. Billionaire spending has also flooded the Republican sides of the races.