Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico returned to the campaign trail on Friday after being away from public events for nearly ten days. His reappearance took place at the Austin City Limits music festival in Austin.
Campaign spokesman JT Ennis confirmed his return in a statement, noting that the candidate was back out and speaking directly with voters. During his appearance at the festival, Talarico spent approximately fifteen minutes greeting attendees and pausing to take photographs.
Addressing questions about his recent absence, Talarico explained to reporters that he had been dealing with a severe case of the influenza virus and had spent the prior week recovering at home in bed. He also took the opportunity to encourage vaccination, stating that everyone should get a flu shot.
Talarico mentioned that he had been ill for a total of seven days before stepping back out into the public eye. Following his stop in Austin, he indicated that his schedule would continue with additional campaign events planned in Dallas over the weekend.