Inside James Talarico's Bid to Flip Texas

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

LUBBOCK, Texas—The audience at Covenant Presbyterian sits in silence, transfixed by the seminarian at the pulpit. James Talarico is speaking at a deliberate pace and with a practiced cadence, nimbly mixing the Gospels of Matthew and Luke with an avowed progressivism and references to current-day political tyranny and Christian nationalism. While delivering a sermon about secularism, he dashes in the merits of religious diversity and suggests that the Pentagon brass post “turn the other cheek” in their war-planning rooms. And Talarico is doing this in West Texas, in a county that Donald Trump won by 40 points.

“If your heart is breaking as you watch what's happening to our beloved country, it means you still have a heart,” the 36-year-old state representative and U.S. Senate candidate says.

I am in the back pew, the only reporter watching this former teacher command a crowd of a few dozen congregants with nary an empty row, shortly after becoming the subject of the kind of national media attention other campaigns would murder for. Stephen Colbert turned Talarico into a household name after alleging CBS was blocking him from airing his interview with the rising Democrat. “Donald Trump is worried that we're about to flip Texas,” Talarico said in the interview, which was posted to YouTube and quickly drew almost 9 million views. The attention helped him rake in $2.5 million in donations in 24 hours and 4,000 new volunteers.

At the Lubbock church, Talarico is providing a masterclass on how a Democrat can link faith, culture, and politics together in a way that makes sense. A secularist at heart, he asserts religion and politics should never meet lest both be corrupted. His credibility in making that argument is baked into his biography, having led the opposition in the Texas House to state-manded displays of the Ten Commandments in public school.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/she-t-win-inside-james-194533825.html

[Initech]

1. I'm definitely liking this guy the more I see him.

Talarico is the real deal! Someone's got to flush Abbott and the Fox crew, they are destroying Texas. They can't be fired soon enough!

[gixxerlee]

2. this is gonna be tough

i like him and Jasmine Crockett. still haven't decided yet who i will pick in the primary. with the way the economy is, and now a looming war. i think either has a really good shot of winning the election. let's go blue!

[Initech]

4. We've got to take Texas and Florida back from Rupert Murdoch's iron grip.

It's gonna be a long, ugly battle but I think the Dems can do it! If Miami, of all cities, can elect a female mayor, then anything is certainly possible! Flushing the Murdoch criminal cabal for good should be our top priority!

[stonecutter357]

3. Tjhank you !

[Jack Valentino]

5. I now hope he actually wins the nomination, although I still love Crockett--

I think Talarico would be less vulnerable to negative ads than Crockett, and this general election in Texas seems likely to be decided on a very narrow margin... and there are a lot more hispanic voters in Texas than AA voters...


As I recently posted previously, I'd prefer Crockett as the new US Senator from Texas,
but I now think Talarico is the better bet for Democratic nominee for US Senate in Texas...
there being this thing called the 'General Election' that has to happen first

Also read some new things about Crockett recently that were rather negative---

such as 'she doesn't seem to have a campaign manager other than herself'...!

(Don't know if that is actually true, but I certainly have never heard of any!)


Regardless, I will support whomever Texas Democratic voters nominate for the office.

[Dr. T]

6. If Talarico can flip the Christian vote, I'm all for it.

That's a weird statement coming from an atheist with a slight agnostic tilt.

[niyad]

7. "less arrogant than Obama"??? I was increasingly annoyed at the smug

style of that reporter even before I got to that phrase. Things like quoting the unnamed gop'er, "She can't win. He can." as if that were settled fact. I am not in Texas, so my opinion on this race would not be relevant, even as I watch some of the same tactics being used by the other side against Rep. Crockett that were used against Secretary Clinton, and VP Harris.

[leftstreet]

8. Yeah, that's strange

"arrogant?"

He could have said Talarico is more "accessible" or "approachable," given he's a white Christian male in TX. But "arrogant" seems like a coded buzzword she's trying to use.

Weird

[niyad]

9. He. philip elliott.

[leftstreet]

10. Oh, right

Thanks!

[MagickMuffin]

11. As a Texan I do get to cast my ballot in the primary

I would have preferred Talarico to run for Governor, however, he decided that he preferred the Senate seat and he declared his candidacy very early on.

Crockett, otoh, waited until the very last day to file the paperwork for her candidacy in the Senate race.

I love Jasmine, but I had already made my decision.

I just wish they wouldn’t go negative on each other. There’s plenty of pac money for that.

[LudwigPastorius]

12. Interesting tidbit from this poll:

23% of those polled who voted (or will vote) in the Democratic primary identified themselves as "Independent".

Those Independents voted (or will vote) for Talarico over Crockett 62% to 35%.

https://emersoncollegepolling.com/texas-2026-primary-poll-talarico-paxton-with-narrow-edges-in-senate-primaries/