Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico’s mystery girlfriend is a vegan and political activist.
Brianna Menard, 30, is also a lobbyist for the Texas Medical Association, an organization that has supported puberty blockers and hormone treatment and criticized Republicans for so-called “criminalization of evidence-based, gender-affirming care for transgender youth and adolescents,” The New York Post reported.
She also enjoys yoga and dancing at “Cheer Up Charlies,” a local vegan gay bar in Austin, Texas, according to the Post.
Menard met Talarico while working as his chief of staff in 2022, but the two did not start dating until 2023, according to the Post. She also worked as chief of staff for Democratic Texas state Rep. Salman Bhojani.
The identity of Talarico’s girlfriend comes to light as Talarico has been denying rumors that he is vegan himself — even though he once suggested eating meat is morally wrong. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Talarico’s Republican opponent in the Senate race, has dubbed him “Tofu Talarico.”
A spokesman for Talarico’s campaign said Talarico is not vegan.
“James is not and never has been a vegan, much to his girlfriend’s chagrin,” spokesman JT Ennis said. “As the saying goes, true love conquers all.”
During his re-election campaign to the Texas House of Representatives in 2022, however, Talarico announced his entire campaign would be “non-meat” to counter climate change, The Daily Wire previously reported.
“Not just because it’s the right thing to do, and the moral thing to do, but also, as all of you know, it’s necessary to fight climate change,” Talarico said at the time. “It is now existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption and that we try to respect animals in all aspects of society.”
To push back against the vegan claims, Democrats posted a picture of Talarico eating barbecue as the Democrat nominee hopes to flip the Republican Senate seat.
“I’ve been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment,” Talarico said earlier this week.
In addition to his vegan nickname, Paxton has called Talarico “Six-Gender Jimmy” and “James Tala-FREAKO” for his comments on transgender ideology — including Talarico’s remark that what he loved most in the world was “trans children.”
