Talarico campaign denies claim he was treated at mental health facility

The campaign of Texas Senate candidate James Talarico has denied a claim that he was treated at a mental health facility in Ohio. His spokesperson said he was at home recovering from the flu and called the allegation a “pathetic conspiracy theory.”

The statement was released Sunday after conservative influencer Nick Sortor claimed that Talarico had been discharged earlier in the week from the Lindner Center of Hope, a mental health facility near Cincinnati.

“This is a lie designed to promote a pathetic conspiracy theory,” spokesperson J.T. Ennis said in a social media post. “Last week James Talarico was home in Austin, Texas, recovering from the flu.”

Sortor said a hospital employee told him and commentator Rhein Amacher that Talarico had been a patient. The post included an audio recording of a woman purportedly working at the facility.

Talarico appeared Friday at the Austin City Limits music festival after nine days without a public appearance, according to The Texas Tribune. He had said during a September 30 virtual appearance that he had been diagnosed with the flu.

Talarico, a Democratic state representative from Austin, is facing Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the November 3 election for the U.S. Senate seat held by John Cornyn.

Polls have shown a close race between the two candidates, with Talarico leading Paxton in some surveys.