Kel Seliger/Screenshot via Senator Kel Seliger YouTube
Former Texas State Sen. Kel Seliger endorsed James Talarico for U.S. Senate during a campaign stop in Amarillo on Tuesday.
Seliger, who served as mayor of Amarillo and was a Republican member of the Texas Senate for nearly 16 years, spoke prior to Talarico and another legislative candidate taking the stage. Seliger defended Talarico and said Republican attacks on the lawmaker are untrue.
Seliger also notably took shots at President Donald Trump during his remarks on Tuesday.
“What [Talarico] believes is the people who are elected to Washington are going there to represent us, every single one of us,” Seliger said. “They’re not going there to represent the wishes and desires of the President of the United States, no matter what shade of orange he is.”
The endorsement by Seliger follows moves by the one-time Republican toward support for Democrats and Democratic causes. For example, in 2022, Seliger signed a sworn declaration as part of a federal lawsuit claiming that Republican redistricting efforts violated the Voting Rights Act.
During his 2018 re-election bid, Seliger also came under fire for “liking” a tweet that said Trump had a “dangerous unfitness” for the presidency. Seliger removed the like after The Pioneer published an article about his social media habits and claimed he had clicked the button by accident.