Talarico campaign poaches former Cornyn staffer in race against Paxton

A former senior staffer for outgoing Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has joined Democratic Texas state Sen. James Talarico’s U.S. Senate campaign in an unexpected cross-party move. Jacob Smith previously served as Cornyn’s deputy legislative director and policy adviser for five years. But now he is working for Talarico’s campaign as deputy policy director. “I’ve worked…