HOUSTON—Texas Republican senate nominee Ken Paxton ripped his Democratic rival on Thursday, alleging that Rep. James Talarico lacked the requisite criminal experience to represent the Lone Star State in Washington.

“With all due respect, my opponent doesn’t have the cojones to go on a crime spree,” he told a crowd of supporters in Houston. “James Talarico never saw a law he didn’t abide.”

Drawing a stark contrast between himself and Talarico, Paxton said, “My criminal record is as big as Texas itself.”

Paxton warned that, given the prevailing criminal environment in Washington DC, Texans would be electing a non-criminal like Talarico “at their peril,” adding, “Texas deserves a criminal who doesn’t need on-the-job training.”