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

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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.

He has emerged as one of Texas Democrats’ most effective communicators — a skill he attributes in part to his two years as a middle school teacher — and he more recently helped lead the caucus’ messaging efforts against Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting.

Talarico joins a Democratic primary field that so far includes Colin Allred, a former Dallas congressman and NFL linebacker who fell short of unseating U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2024 by 8.5 percentage points, and former astronaut Terry Virts. Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio are also considering running.

Democrats have not won a statewide election in Texas since 1994. But they hope that 2026 will bring favorable political winds to help flip the Senate seat, with the hard-right, scandal-plagued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn for the Republican nomination. Democrats also hope that midterm backlash against the sitting party in power will help drive voters to the polls.

Talarico’s name had been floated in recent months to take on Gov. Greg Abbott, especially after he became one of most visible spokespeople arguing against the governor’s landmark school voucher program, which passed the Legislature in April.

But the four-term state lawmaker said he ultimately decided that the skills he’d honed in the state House were more transferrable to the U.S. Senate than the governor’s mansion.

“My ability to question witnesses to get to the truth in committee hearings, and my ability to hold colleagues accountable on the House floor and go toe to toe in these debates that are so important — those skills that I’ve developed that, I think, could be put to the best use for the people of the state as a U.S. senator,” Talarico said.

Videos of Talarico sparring with his Republican colleagues have garnered millions of views on social media. But he emphasized that he’d also gained experience in the House working and building relationships across the aisle, on efforts to pass major legislation such as a $25-per-month cap on insulin copays and a bill to import low-cost prescription drugs from Canada.

Talarico, who is lesser known outside of Central Texas, said he intended to campaign in “unorthodox ways” and reach Texans across platforms, from social media to town halls full of Republican voters. During his first run for the Texas House, for instance, he walked 25 miles along the length of his district and held three town halls along the way.

“The country is looking for a reset in the Democratic Party, and I think we’ve got to put forward people who are offering something different and something new,” he said. “A conventional campaign is not going to work in Texas.”

Talarico said he wanted to replicate O’Rourke’s “energy,” and “his willingness to go everywhere and talk to everyone,” during the former congressman’s 2018 Senate campaign where he famously visited all 254 counties. But Talarico said he would rightsize the strategy for today’s TikTok era. His launch video, for instance, will be filmed vertically and tailor-made for the “newest platforms,” he said.

When asked about his platform, Talarico did not name specific policy issues but said that taking on billionaires was the way to achieve outcomes such as lower costs of childcare and housing, expanded health care access and fully-funded public schools — all issues he worked on as a state legislator.

“I’ve really come to think of politics less as left vs. right and more as top vs. bottom,” he said, arguing that the wealthiest Americans are increasingly “the powers that be,” in politics, media and the economy.

Talarico has been vocal against the influence of GOP megadonors in Texas politics, arguing that billionaires “have to keep us divided,” and that Americans are looking for a Democratic Party that fights back.

“They don’t want us recognizing that the 99% of us have way more in common with each other than we do with them,” he said. “The most radical thing you can do in an era of division is bring people together. And I think that’s what’s going to be necessary to achieve those policy outcomes.”

Talarico pledged to continue his prohibition against taking donations from corporate PACs, which he defined as groups aligned with or named after corporations. But he has accepted contributions from groups backed by billionaires such as Charles Butt, the chairman of H-E-B who is engaged in education issues — a policy area Talarico focused on in the Legislature — and Miriam Adelson, the casino mogul and GOP donor, whose group gave Talarico almost $60,000.

Talarico, who has filed bills that would cap state campaign giving, said in an interview last month that he accepted billionaire contributions because he supported the causes of the groups providing them, from legalizing gambling to strengthening public education. He added that he was not willing to “unilaterally disarm while Republicans play by their own rules.”

“I am in this broken system like everybody else is,” he said, acknowledging that accepting billionaire contributions could open him up to scrutiny. “I, at least, am trying to put forward ideas for how it could be different.”

Talarico said he had over $1 million in his campaign account and planned on taking his small-dollar fundraising operation to the “next level,” this election. Recent election cycles have broken fundraising records, with Allred raising a staggering $99.9 million during the 2024 Senate race against Cruz.

“I’ve never taken anything for granted in life or politics, and this campaign is no exception,” Allred said in a statement. “For the next fourteen months, my focus will be on meeting with and listening to Texas families — all across our state — to build the diverse coalition we need to win.”

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