Texas Rep. James Talarico to launch Democratic primary bid for U.S. Senate

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Texas Rep. James Talarico will announce Tuesday he's jumping into the race for U.S. Senate, according to two people familiar with the plans who were granted anonymity to discuss them.

Politico and CNN reported the plan earlier Friday.

Talarico will be the second high-profile Democrat to enter the race.

Talarico, a rising star among Texas Democrats, has made a name for himself through a string of viral social media moments that show him drawing on his Christian faith while he spars with Republican colleagues and conservative media hosts, covering topics like school vouchers and Texas’ new policy of requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms. His videos on TikTok regularly earn millions of views, and he notched a coveted appearance earlier this summer on Joe Rogan’s top-rated podcast show.

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, where he grew up. He hopes to one day become a pastor, earning his master’s degree in theological studies last year from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Talarico will join former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and former astronaut Terry Virts in a closely watched Democratic primary that might still generate more candidates. Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio have flirted with joining the race.

The contest is of particular interest to Democrats who see blood in the water for incumbent Sen. John Cornyn. The four-term Republican is facing a tough primary challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who Democrats see as vulnerable in a general election due to his ethics scandals, infidelities and hardline conservative stances. Paxton has led Cornyn in polling, though recent surveys suggest the race is tightening.

Talarico, meanwhile, would begin his campaign with only modest name recognition among voters outside Central Texas, where he was first elected in a district that narrowly went for Republican Donald Trump in 2016. He shifted to his current solidly blue district in Austin after GOP lawmakers redrew his old seat in 2021 to favor a Republican.

The four-term Democrat speaks openly and often about his faith and how it shapes and meshes with his progressive politics. He frequently draws a sharp distinction between his version of Christianity and that of the Republicans who dominate the Texas Legislature.

“There’s nothing Christian about Christian nationalism,” Talarico is fond of saying, often citing Bible verses in arguing against Republican-led measures like the Ten Commandments law or a proposal to set aside time for prayer during the school day.

Talarico has leaned in recent months into the idea that Democrats need to show voters they are fighting for the middle class against billionaires and those who would cheat the system. After he deployed that argument with Rogan, the politically amorphous podcast host who has recently veered right, told Talarico near the end of the two-and-a-half-hour show that he should run for president.

More recently, Talarico was on the forefront of Democratic messaging against the mid-decade redistricting effort pushed by Trump to protect the GOP’s congressional majority, joining the contingent of House lawmakers who camped out in Illinois last month to delay the new map.

“The Democratic Party has forgotten how to fight, but this critical moment in our country's history demands fighters, not folders,” Talarico told a room full of Democrats in Hays County in August. “It’s time to start flipping tables.”

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