Drag queen Alyssa Edwards weighs in on Paxton-Talarico exchange
A world-renowned drag queen from Mesquite has spent the past few days at the unlikely center of the Texas Senate race — and she's taking it in stride.
Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson, 46, better known as "RuPaul's Drag Race" star Alyssa Edwards, landed there after U.S. Senate Democratic candidate and state Rep. James Talarico mentioned her at one of his campaign events.
It began when Republican candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton took to social media on Sept. 14 and posted a video from RNC Research showing a man approaching Talarico at a campaign event to take a picture with him.
At that point, the man shook Talarico's hand, posed for a photo and asked, "Who's your favorite drag queen in Texas?"
Talarico answered that it was probably Alyssa Edwards — a Texas native from the Dallas area.
Paxton posted the video to social media, which has 1.1 million views as of Sept. 17, asking, "What normal person can name their favorite drag queen this quickly?"
"When James Talarico isn’t advocating for children to dress in drag, he’s watching drag performances and saying that Texas produces the best drag queens," Paxton wrote.
The next day, Edwards reposted Paxton's post and claimed the label of "Your favorite politician’s favorite Drag Queen."
She also thanked Talarico for recognizing that the arts have a purpose and a home right in Texas, ending her post with Matthew 7:1 from the Bible — "Do not judge, or you too will be judged."
This flashpoint in the Texas Senate race is the latest moment in Texas' long, contentious relationship with drag performers and LGBT+ and diversity topics.
Recently, a federal judge struck down a Texas law seeking to restrict drag performances, ruling for a second time that the legislation is unconstitutional in August.
This came after the law, which Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed in June 2023, sought to prohibit "sexually oriented performances" by creating criminal penalties for performers and civil penalties for businesses that host them.
While this is one instance where a law was prevented, Texas has passed laws limiting LGBT and DEI topics at public universities over the past few years.
In 2025, Texas passed Senate Bill 2972, which limits academic courses and discussions on LGBT and diversity, equity and inclusion topics at public colleges and universities.
Prior to that, in 2023, Texas banned DEI offices — including LGBT+ offices — at public colleges and universities across the state.
Mateo Rosiles is the Texas Connect reporter for USA TODAY and its regional papers in Texas. Got a news tip for him? Email him at mrosiles@usatodayco.com.
