James Talarico is decidedly not running for Senate in California. But Ken Paxton wants you to think he is.

 California already has two senators. If elected, James Talarico would be California's third senator,  Talarico's opponent for Texas' open Senate seat recently told Newsweek.

The attack comes as Hollywood donors line up behind the 37-year-old Democratic populist. Peter Chernin and Damon Lindelof have hosted fundraisers for Talarico; Robert De Niro headlined a New York fundraiser; and Brad Garrett, Holland Taylor and Noah Wyle have all kicked in dollars to help Texas elect a Democratic senator for the first time since 1988.

Support from some of America's best-known entertainers might seem like an asset. But this election season, Hollywood is a gun Republicans are trying to turn against their opponents.

As the midterms come into the heated homestretch ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3, Republicans have found what they hope is a potent new avenue, especially in the South and Midwest: knock a candidate's celebrity connections. They hope it can stop what many polls say will be a blue wave, even as it's unclear that voters in a time of costs and crisis care which sitcom star might vote for you.

Running against  the media  has been a time-tested strategy to get GOP candidates elected, no matter that Fox News is the most watched cable channel in the country. But after a 2024 election season when the support of Beyoncé, Eminem and Taylor Swift didn't help Kamala Harris and in some swing states may have hurt her, GOP strategists and pundits nationwide are doubling down on a newer anti-celebrity gambit. The party of Ronald Reagan and Sonny Bono and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Fred Thompson and Clint Eastwood now apparently thinks being silver-screen famous is a liability.

Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, seeking reelection in Georgia, has garnered major Hollywood support. Shonda Rimes co-hosted a fundraiser, and Chuck Lorre, Sally Field, Larry David, Annette Bening and Ben Stiller all ponied up cash (Bryan Lourd, David Kramer, David Geffen and Casey Bloys, too). This has prompted opponent Mike Col
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