The Case for Talarico
In 1988, the Phantom of the Opera opened in New York City, the first World Aids Day was held, and Texas saw its last Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate. So as the 2026 Senate campaigns ramp up across the nation, none have my focus more than my home state of Texas. Rep. James Talarico and Rep. Jasmine Crockett duke things out to be the next democrat to lose the senate seat, while incumbent John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton fight to divide Texas further from the nation and duke out who is the reddest and the whitest. My whole life Texas has been this impenetrable red wall. An easy 40 electoral votes for any Republican, and a heartbreaking red stain on otherwise momentous campaigns like Beto O’Rourke’s in 2018.
Growing up in South Texas in a large blue city like San Antonio, I always thought it was strange how red Texas looked from CNN or Fox’s election maps. This southern wall of Republicans that is unwavering in their socially conservative values, animosity towards women’s health care, and a disdain for marajuana. When you grow up on the border, or even 300 miles from it, you have a different perspective of Texas. One that is at odds with its representation in the U.S. Government. One at odds with its own political history. There are millions and millions of Texans that have been denied proper representation due to the Democrats inability to win elections in this state. I’d argue it’s never been more important to do so. Following a wave of Democrats recently elected last November across the nation, there is real momentum on the left. A mandate from the people of this country to return things to “normal”, or at least shed the GOPs stronghold on our three branches.
Rep. James Talarico has the best chance since Ronald Reagan was President, to flip a Texas Senate seat. But to do so he’s going to need to convince moderates and closeted republicans alike that his lack of personal bias against queer people and contempt for bathroom politics and billionaires, actually brings him closer to the problems most Texans, red and blue, are dealing with.
James Talarico is an eighth-generation Texan, raised by a single mother in East Austin. Before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018, he was a public school teacher at Rhodes Elementary on the west side of San Antonio. He is an alumni from both the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University. Rep. Talarico is currently serving on the Public Education Committee, the House Administration Committee, and as Vice Chair of the Trade, Workforce & Economic Development Committee.
His platform is deceivingly simple..
“The biggest divide in this country is not left vs. right. It’s top vs. bottom. Billionaires want us looking left and right at each other instead of looking up at them. The people at the top work so hard to keep us angry and divided because our unity is a threat to their wealth and power. So their cable news networks and their social media algorithms tear us apart. They divide us by party, by race, by gender, by religion so we don’t notice they’re defunding our schools, gutting our healthcare, and cutting taxes for themselves and their rich friends. It’s the oldest strategy in the world: divide and conquer”. It's this anti-billionaire rhetoric that's so popular and it’s in part what helped Mamdani take the mayoral race in NYC last year.
This ‘David and Goliath’ rhetoric sounds nice but Texas is a unique state that has unique problems. Our proximity to the border makes us supremely aware of the benefits and detriments of border policy. Texas is a massive economy with tons of moving parts. It’s a diverse place where multi-culturalism is embedded into even the simplest of small towns. So what is Talarico planning on doing once he is in the Senate?
In regards to Immigration, Talarico has pledged to ban ICE agents from wearing masks and refusing to identify themselves. He also thinks ICE’s focus should be on the “deportation of criminals, gang members, and human traffickers — not our neighbors who contribute to our communities, pay taxes, and pose no threat to our safety”. Talarico believes that creating more paths for legal immigration and modernizing border technology, will help people who have been here the longest stay in, and the drugs stay out. He has called for more immigration judges to help work through the asylum system’s backlog. Finally he promises stronger labor standards on work visas and litigation for employers who manipulate the current system to exploit immigrants.
As a millennial, Talarico has a more realistic vision when it comes to AI and tech. He has promised to pass “commonsense safeguards to keep kids safe online — like giving parents more control over their children’s social media use and prohibiting platforms from using algorithms to send targeted content to minors; require social media companies to conduct regular impact assessments to check algorithms for bias, fairness, privacy, and security; and rein in broad immunity protections for companies”. He also calls for investment in STEM education and anticipatory training of workers at risk of displacement from AI. Digital literacy programs are also on his agenda, programs that would “create federal grant programs for schools, libraries, and community partners to teach critical skills for identifying misinformation, using digital media responsibly, and helping parents protect their children online”.
On foreign policy, Talarico is outspoken about his desire to see more U.S. cooperation with foreign allies, restored funding in the State Department, and the reversal of the dissolution of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and his support of Ukraine, the Uyghurs, Rohingya, and Sudanese. He remains fairly critical of both Israel and Palestine, believing both Israel has a right to defend its home after October 7th, but saying Netanyahu “does not have the right to bomb civilians, restrict aid, or use forced famine and collective punishment as tactics”. Talarico also promises to keep veterans in mind and protect the VA, hoping to reverse the Trump Administration’s mass layoffs.
One of the main pillars of Talarico’s campaigning is his opposition to censorship and his vow to protect the first amendment. He wants to keep the Government out of American’s personal choices, saying he wants to “restore reproductive freedom with federal legislation to codify Roe v. Wade and protect access to contraception and IVF, protect the legality of gay marriage and defend our LGBTQ+ neighbors from government overreach, and legalize regulated marijuana for adults so that we no longer put people behind bars for a substance that is already legal in half the country”. As a U.S. Representative, Talarico has been adamantly against book banning and cancel culture, whether it be from private citizens or the government. While in office Talarico helped shut down legislation in the Texas House that would have implemented a book ban on books like The Catcher in the Rye or anything with the word “gay”, and stood up to their push to ban all THC products.
Pitching himself as an underdog who wants to fight fair and clean, Talarico has the track record to match. Talarico is the co-sponsor or author of 16 bills that have been passed and signed into law. Most of these laws deal with child care, family, education, and religion. Talarico’s steadfast character and political wit has made national headlines twice. First appearing on many of our radars upon leading the charge to deny Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s vote on voter redistricting mid-decade, after being prompted to do so by Trump. Talarico and about 50 other democrats fled the state, sparking GOP outrage and return fire from Blue states with threats of their own redistricting. Talarico spent even more time in the spotlight for his public outcry over SB10, which mandated the ‘10 Commandments’ be displayed in public school, arguing that, “as a Christian who loves his faith, the bill directly contradicted a founding principle of separation of church and state”.
Aside from his abilities to get laws passed with partisan support, Talarico is leading in terms of campaign finance, all without taking a dime from CPACs. Individual contributions to his campaign under 200$, total nearly 8-million dollars. This puts him in a competitive spot ahead of the midterms. Talarico’s cash on hand and ability to leverage the small donations of Texans against the millions shelled out by individual wealthy donors and corporations to the GOP Senate candidates, puts him in a financially secure spot. But if Kamala Harris’ campaign could waste 500-million dollars, James could figure it out too.
Faith is a really big deal for Texas. It can not be overlooked, it can not be sidelined. It needs to be a main pillar of a campaign if a candidate is ever hoping to grab independents and moderates both left and right. So it’s no wonder Talarico’s bullish nature on talking about his faith and using it for justification of his politics, is working. Not only does Talarico identify as Christian, he is a Presbyterian seminarian studying to become a pastor. His faith encompasses all that he does and speaks about. Oftentimes using stories from the bible or his faith to connect with more right-leaning voters and even religion-reluctant liberals like myself. He has no problem denouncing Christian Nationalism, an increasingly difficult task for GOP politicians. When asked about his faith’s contradiction to gay marriage, abortion, or gender identity, he doesn’t stutter, nor fall on any sword. He unapologetically blends the teachings of his faith and the principles of our constitution into a sound message. Like this excerpt from a conversation he had on Late Night with Stephen Colbert that CBS and the FCC tried to bully Colbert out of having.
Talarico said, “[Republicans] convinced a lot of our fellow Christians that the most important issues were abortion and gay marriage. Two issues that aren't mentioned in the Bible. Two issues that Jesus never talked about. Jesus in Matthew 25 tells us exactly how you and I, and every one of our fellow believers, how we're going to be judged and how we're going to be saved. By feeding the hungry, by healing the sick, by welcoming the stranger. Nothing about going to church, nothing about voting Republican. It was all about how you treat other people… Jesus gave us two commandments. Love God and love thy neighbor. And there was no exception to that second commandment. Love thy neighbor regardless of race or gender or sexual orientation or immigration status or religious affiliation”
In 27 years of life I have never heard politics and religion blended together in such a way that made ME, a non-religious person, feel seen and heard. Usually, especially in the South and rural areas, it’s politicized religious fervor that ignites the right against our modern culture wars. It’s a mandate from God that we must police our bathrooms more than our city streets. I always imagined that to flip any part of Texas truly, enough Republicans would have to have the ‘glass shatter’ so to speak. Maybe that would be losing all their money, or having their third-graders killed during lunchtime, or being diagnosed with an illness that needs overpriced, uncapped medication. Something that would bring them to the Blue side. A side that has always outnumbered Republicans in large cities in Texas, yet remains defeated come every election since 1988.
I perhaps was looking at this backwards though. To get Republicans in rural areas and small towns to agree with the problems, and more importantly the solutions that Democrats around Texas are eager for, maybe we need a Democrat who can speak to both sides in their own language.
Talarico understands the Bible and the way its stories and teachings influence Republicans. He understands what Democrats want when it comes to equality, personal dignity, health care, and freedom. He supports the separation of church and state, something the GOP would benefit from too. He cuts through the madness of Epstein files and sex-cabals, and steers the conversation towards schools, healthcare, and religious freedom. His anti-billionaire rhetoric is refreshing in a time, when I too mumble and groan over the greed and power of the ruling class. He has proven his ability to finance and generate momentum at the grass roots level and also can hold his own in front of the national spotlight. He is an adept lawmaker, with 16 of his laws passed, many with bipartisan support. We’ll know more how he compares in terms of vision after the primaries and future debates, but for now Talarico’s future looks bright
Talarico’s main opponent is the 30th District Representative for Texas, Jasmine Crockett. She is a University of Houston Law Center alumni and was a practicing civil rights and personal injury attorney before running for the U.S. House. She was the co-chair of Kamala Harris’ and Tim Walz’ unsuccessful bid for the White House and although she was elected in 2021, she has yet to have a bill she’s authored or cosponsored pass. She instead has made national headlines in feuds and verbal spats with fellow congresspeople, like the one in 2024 with Majorie Taylor Greene, after Greene attacked Crockett’s physical appearance.
Whether it be her willingness to promote unpromising potential legislation or inability to get those bills to the finish line, Crockett’s all-bark-no-bite approach to politics looks great on social media, but falls short under any real scrutiny. Her willingness to speak about injustice, and demand more from her superiors and colleagues is commendable. However, useless in pursuit of winning elections. We need people like Crockett in public office, but similarly we need people like Talarico. Someone who has proven his ability to flip red districts, like the district he was elected in, in 2018. Keeping a House seat in a historically red district, which Trump won by nine points in 2016, is no small feat, and Talarico has won his reelection campaign three times since.
Now although Crockett is the favorite to take the Democratic primary nomination, Talarico has more money behind his campaign, and more mass appeal to independents and moderates, due to his less polarizing faith derived platforming. With only a few weeks to go until the primaries, the final bouts of campaigning and advertising begins. I wish Texas was ready for a young, fierce, intelligent, well-spoken woman to hold a Senate seat and break the drought of Democratic representation in the Upper House. I hope I am wrong, and my gut feeling that Crockett will not be able to seal this deal is misled. And whether it be Crockett or Talarico, we hopefully see a blue Senator in Texas this November.
In my mind this isn’t about the best candidate, although I do think that James Talarico is the best candidate. This is about the retaking of Texas politics, allowing better representation for the 8 million plus Democrats, and giving us a leg to stand on in the Senate. Most importantly however, this election is about showing the GOP that Texas is not a permanent Red wall, an easy 40 electoral votes. It’s a battleground, a swing state. At least it certainly seems that way from the northern comfort of an actual swing state.