Cornyn Aide Takes Job With Talarico

A Republican Senate aide has crossed the aisle to work for the Democrat trying to flip the Senate seat his boss is about to vacate.

James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, has brought on a policy staffer who spent five years working for Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn, NOTUS reported Monday.

Jacob Smith, who served Cornyn as deputy legislative director and policy adviser, will take on the role of deputy policy director for the Talarico campaign.

Staff switching parties is uncommon, and the hire hints that Talarico wants to court Republican voters in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat in decades, NOTUS reported.

Texas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988.