In Texas, Democrats have tried all of it. They’ve raised piles of cash, grabbed nationwide headlines, and made their case in each one of many state’s 254 counties. And election after election, they’ve come up empty.
This time, state Rep. James Talarico is taking a special swing. The younger Democratic lawmaker and Presbyterian seminarian isn’t shying away from what units him aside—he’s speaking overtly about his religion and the way it drives his politics. It’s a wager {that a} new sort of pitch would possibly lastly crack a decades-long shedding streak.
Final month, Talarico jumped into the race for the seat held by Republican Sen. John Cornyn, becoming a member of a major that contains former Texas Rep. Colin Allred, who misplaced to Sen. Ted Cruz in final 12 months’s election. At 36, Talarico, a former instructor, insists he can do what no Democrat has performed in additional than three a long time: win statewide in Texas.
He faces a climb for the nomination, although. Many polls have Allred forward, however Talarico has indicators of momentum. A September survey from Public Coverage Polling discovered that amongst voters with favorable views of each males, Talarico led by 50 proportion factors.
Fundraising tells a narrative too: He pulled in $6.2 million in his first three weeks—blowing previous Allred’s $4.1 million haul over three months.
Talarico made his identify in 2018, when he flipped a state Home seat outdoors Austin. He walked the size of his district in a single day, held three city halls alongside the best way, and livestreamed the entire thing. That scrappy, in-the-trenches method is how he says Democrats can win statewide.
Talarico, who’s amassed greater than 1.4 million followers on TikTok, says his marketing campaign will mix grassroots organizing with digital attain.
“This factor is simply getting began,” he instructed Each day Kos from Victoria, Texas, en path to the Rio Grande Valley for marketing campaign stops. “We’ll be utilizing our social media platforms, however we’ll even be on conventional media and assembly individuals in each nook of the state. We’re going to go away no stone unturned.”
No Democrat has cracked the code in Texas in additional than 30 years. Talarico is betting religion, grit, and a relentless floor recreation can change that.
This interview has been flippantly edited for size and readability.
Each day Kos: Polls present former Texas Rep. Colin Allred is extra well-known than you, as a result of he has run statewide earlier than. What do you inform voters who need to know the important thing coverage variations between you two?
James Talarico: I’m positively the outsider on this race. I’ve mentioned earlier than that I take into account myself the underdog, each within the major and within the common election, and that’s why I’m barnstorming throughout the state. I’m going to each a part of the state, introducing myself to of us, and attempting to earn their belief and assist.
I’m sharing my document within the state Home, the place I fought to decrease the prices of pharmaceuticals, housing, and little one care—all points I plan to champion if I’m elected as the subsequent U.S. senator.
I’m not very conversant in all of Colin’s coverage positions, however I do like him so much. I take into account him a buddy and have campaigned with him. On this race, I’m placing ahead my values, my imaginative and prescient, my experiences, and why I imagine I’m fitted to this second. I’m operating a constructive race within the major—not towards Colin, however for myself and the individuals of the state.
DK: Do you assume it’s a special kind of power you’re bringing to the race that you just imagine is critical for Democrats to lastly flip a statewide seat in Texas?
Talarico: I hope we’re bringing loads of power to this race as a result of we desperately want it in our politics proper now. We additionally want a bit of little bit of hope. I really feel like individuals are simply actually feeling overwhelmed down on this present atmosphere. It’s scary, darkish occasions.
What we’re attempting to supply individuals is just a bit little bit of positivity and optimism about what we will do collectively. I believe it’s, hopefully, refreshing for individuals to get a glimpse of a special sort of politics from what we’ve all been struggling beneath for the final 10 years.
DK: You gained nationwide popularity of showing on Joe Rogan’s podcast. How do you stability your progressivism with listening to “the opposite facet”?
Talarico: That’s what I’ve needed to do within the state legislature. I must work throughout the aisle each time doable, to get issues performed for the individuals of the state. I’ve handed main payments with my Republican colleagues within the legislature on well being care, schooling, housing, and little one care. However I’ve additionally needed to stand as much as my Republican colleagues after they’re attempting to harm the individuals of the state.
I’m the sort of chief who can each take a stand and get issues performed. I’ve joked on the stump that if you would like a frontrunner who might be each robust and compassionate, it’s best to rent a center college instructor. That’s precisely what I did within the classroom. It’s what I’ve performed within the legislature, and it’s precisely what I might do if I’m elected to the U.S. Senate.
DK: Fashionable Democrats battle to enchantment to many Christian voters. Based on The Pew Analysis Heart, two-thirds of Texan adults determine as Christian. How will you win these voters again from Republicans?
Talarico: We misplaced [former President] Jimmy Carter on the finish of final 12 months, and he was maybe the final Democratic nationwide determine who overtly and infrequently spoke about his religion. We have to make house in our celebration for individuals of religion and, particularly, for Christians. Religion is central in my life. It’s why I selected to pursue public service. Due to this fact, I’ll communicate overtly about it and received’t be ashamed to take action on the marketing campaign path.
On the similar time, I need to be sure that individuals of assorted faiths—Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, in addition to atheists, agnostics, and Buddhists—really feel welcome on this marketing campaign. I hope my religion can function a bridge relatively than a barrier. That’s the objective of this marketing campaign.
DK: Trump says he’s a nondenominational Christian. How does your religion differ from the expressions of religion put forth by Trump and people round him?
Talarico: I don’t know his private non secular beliefs or practices, however I imagine there’s one situation that troubles many Christian voters, particularly evangelical voters. That’s how the president has dealt with undocumented individuals who have been a part of our communities for many years.
All of us need a safe border and a wise immigration system. Nevertheless, most individuals additionally need to respect group members who’ve been right here a very long time, constructed companies, and contributed to our neighborhoods. There’s a robust custom inside Christianity, particularly amongst American evangelicals, of welcoming strangers—most likely the most typical commandment in our religion and scriptures.
Many evangelicals, together with conservatives, do vital work on the border and mission work in Latin America. I imagine they’re deeply troubled by how this administration has handled the stranger. It’s doable to have a safe border whereas respecting the dignity of all human beings, significantly those that have been within the nation for a very long time.
If I’m elected, I hope to discover a center floor on this situation—pushing for immigration reform and border safety whereas nonetheless respecting and welcoming those that are right here.
DK: Particularly, what adjustments would you prefer to see made concerning immigration and border safety?
Talarico: Properly, I’ve typically mentioned that the border must be like our entrance porch. We must always have a large welcome mat and a lock on the door. Once more, we’ve been instructed that these are mutually unique coverage targets, and I reject that false binary. You are able to do each.
You possibly can have an immigration system with sufficient immigration judges and a reformed asylum course of, the place we welcome those that need to come right here and contribute, these in search of to dwell their American dream, whereas additionally making certain public security. If there are people who want to do us hurt or commit violent crimes, then these individuals must be stored in a foreign country. And if they’re right here, they need to be deported instantly. These are targets that almost all Texans—and most People—share, and I’ll pursue each if I’m elected to this place.
DK: You’ve talked about in previous interviews that the Democratic Occasion “has forgotten combat.” What does combating seem like to you, particularly if Democrats stay within the Senate minority?
Talarico: You should be keen to make use of each software out there. That’s what my colleagues and I did within the legislature over the summer time when the Republican majority tried to redraw our political maps in the course of the last decade to keep away from accountability on the poll field subsequent 12 months. As Texas Democrats, we’re within the minority, however we nonetheless utilized each software at our disposal, together with a quorum break, which drew nationwide consideration to the difficulty and motivated the nation to reply. That’s the sort of combating spirit I might deliver to the Senate. I might maintain all choices open, combat to the fullest extent allowed by the principles, and stand as much as bullies after they threaten to hurt Texas.
The instruments will differ relying on the workplace. Naturally, I mastered the principles as a state consultant. I’ll do the identical if I get elected to the Senate. A few of these guidelines might be fairly obscure. For instance, a quorum break isn’t a software that’s used typically within the legislature, and comparable legal guidelines exist within the Senate. I imagine individuals can depend on me to make the most of each out there tactic to combat for them, for the Structure, and for the nation.
DK: Why do you assume 2026 shall be totally different for Democrats in Texas, the place the celebration hasn’t received a statewide election for the reason that ’90s?
Talarico: There’s rising backlash throughout the state and nation towards the extremism seen at each the nationwide and state ranges. Texans have been dwelling beneath one-party rule for a number of a long time now, and in 2026, that can lengthen from the state Home all the best way to the White Home. I imagine there’s a want for a examine on that energy as a result of one-party rule—whether or not by Democrats or Republicans—tends to result in extremism and corruption, and this has undoubtedly been true beneath the present one-party dominance.
My celebration typically talks about turning Texas blue. Republicans give attention to retaining Texas pink. Truthfully, I believe one of the best colour for Texas is purple. I imagine she would look nice in purple as a result of that sort of competitors makes everybody—politicians included—work tougher for each vote. It forces them to remain alert and develop insurance policies that genuinely profit individuals, relatively than simply doing the bidding of billionaire megadonors or extremists inside their events.
Competitors is an efficient factor in enterprise, sports activities, and politics. I hope we will have a aggressive statewide election in 2026 and break this one-party rule, lastly holding elected officers accountable.
