A Texas Democratic operative was caught on hidden camera calling his own voter-outreach program a “roundabout way of paying people for their votes.”
The video, obtained by Townhall Media, shows a man identified as Sky McAdams, organizing manager for Texas Majority PAC, explaining a paid relational-organizing effort aimed at low-propensity voters.
“We are paying people $25 to attend a one-hour Zoom class to learn why voting is important and why the Republicans are causing all of these bad things,” McAdams says in the video.
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“So it’s like a roundabout way of paying people for their votes, essentially.”
He then acknowledges the legal line.
“You can’t pay someone to vote for someone,” McAdams says. “You can’t be like, ‘Here’s $25, go vote for me.’ You can say, ‘Attend a one-hour class and you can receive $25.’”
“It’s a little gray,” he adds.
Then came the line likely to make the biggest splash.
“If I was a Republican, I would be pissed,” McAdams says. “I would be like, that’s shady as f—.”
The program is run through Rally by Relentless, a progressive organizing operation that openly describes its model as paying low-propensity voters for their time while they contact, persuade, and mobilize friends and family.
Talarico’s opponent, Ken Paxton, shared the clip on X and called it “outrageous.”
“Absolutely outrageous! James Talarico’s team just admitted they are trying to bribe people for votes. Texans aren’t for sale, no matter how much James Talarico thinks they are,” Paxton said.
This story is developing…
Watch the clip below:
Absolutely outrageous!
James Talarico’s team just admitted they are trying to bribe people for votes.
Texans aren’t for sale, no matter how much James Talarico thinks they are. https://t.co/WI8t8jG35o
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) September 16, 2026
