In U.S. Senate bid, Rep. James Talarico promises to take on GOP billionaires and bridge political divides

[TexasTowelie]

Texas Rep. James Talarico launched his bid for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, promising in an interview to bring honesty and compassion back to politics, while pursuing a fairer distribution of wealth and power in the country.

“It’s been 10 years of Trumpian politics — politics as blood sport,” said Talarico, a progressive from Austin and an aspiring minister, in an interview. “This campaign can show people what a different kind of politics would look like — one that actually fights for people regardless of their party or their race or their gender or their religion — and takes on this broken political system and the very powerful people who benefit from this system being broken.”

A former public school teacher and nonprofit director, Talarico, 36, has served in the Texas House since 2018, representing North Austin and parts of Pflugerville and Round Rock. He was first elected to a seat that narrowly went for President Donald Trump in 2016, before switching to a bluer district in 2021 when state Republicans drew him out of his original seat.

Talarico has seen his profile skyrocket over the past year as he built a viral presence online with clips of him drawing on his Christian faith to oppose private school vouchers and religion in schools, while battling Republican lawmakers and conservative media hosts. He also landed a high-profile feature on Joe Rogan’s podcast this summer, a coveted appearance among Democrats looking to engage audiences that have veered right.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/09/james-talarico-texas-senate-democrat-primary/

[walkingman]

1. I hope he is successful, it would be a big uplift for Texas.

[SSJVegeta]

2. My only concern is that he did accept a fairly large donation for his state legislatire run from a prominant billionaire

Adelson. We will see where he gets his PAC money.

[walkingman]

3. This is his explanation - I believe him.

The campaign funds ($59,000) were donated by the Texas Sands PAC, which is financed by Miriam Adelson, not her late husband. The Texas Sands PAC is a proponent of legalizing casino gambling, a position supported by Talarico. Talarico said he accepted the contributions because he supported the causes of the groups providing them.

[SSJVegeta]

4. I was gonna say Politico left that out from their article when i saw if

But i re read it and I was just too lazy to see all of it. Its a decent explanation. I am concerned about using the excuse of not "unilaterally disarming" because Republicans do it, in order to take special interest cash.

I think he will maintain a healthy balance and not go all on with corporate PAC donations. And I hope I'm right. He will be far more successful without it.