Another rising-star Democrat is about to leap into the Texas Senate race. State Rep. James Talarico is expected to announce his campaign Tuesday, according to outlets familiar with his plans—setting up a marquee Democratic primary between two of Texas’s fastest-rising politicians.
Talarico, now 36, first made waves in 2019 as the youngest member of the Texas House. Since then, he’s built a reputation as one of the party’s most visible fighters, especially after he was at the forefront of Democratic messaging against President Donald Trump’s mid-decade redistricting push, joining Texas Democrats who recently decamped to Illinois to delay the new map.
Politico, which first reported the news of his expected campaign, cited three people familiar with his plans.
“The Democratic Party has forgotten how to fight, but this critical moment in our country’s history demands fighters, not folders,” Talarico told a crowd in Hays County in August.
Talarico is also leaning into a populist, middle-class message that’s gained traction with national media, including a high-profile appearance this spring on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
“I think of politics now less as left versus right, and much more as top versus bottom. Because I just see how we are all pitted against each other,” he told Rogan. “If we recognize that we have far more in common than the stuff that divides us, then that’s a threat to their power. It’s a threat to their wealth. That unity—loving your enemy—is not just morally good, it’s not just idealistic, it is good strategic advice.”
The appearance impressed Rogan—a favorite among many conservatives—enough for the popular podcast host to quip, “You need to run for president.”
Talarico will join former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and former astronaut Terry Virts in what’s shaping up to be a blockbuster Democratic primary, one that could grow even more crowded if former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke or U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro decide to get in.
Former Rep. Colin Allred of Texas speaks during the 2024 Democratic National Convention, in Chicago.
Talarico is not entering with universal name recognition outside Central Texas, where he represents North Austin, Pflugerville, and Round Rock, but that could change quickly. CBS News reports Democratic strategist Lis Smith—who worked on Pete Buttigieg’s and Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns—has signed on as an advisor, a sign that Talarico’s campaign will be looking to build a national profile fast.
Faith is also central to Talarico’s political identity. A former public school teacher and nonprofit director, he earned a master’s degree in theological studies from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and has said he hopes to become a pastor one day. He frequently frames his progressive politics through a Christian lens—and doesn’t hold back in criticizing the GOP’s religious rhetoric.
“There’s nothing Christian about Christian nationalism,” he often says while citing Bible verses against Republican-led proposals like mandatory Ten Commandments postings in classrooms.
The Democratic primary will unfold against a volatile Republican backdrop. Four-term Sen. John Cornyn is facing his most brutal political fight yet, with state Attorney General Ken Paxton leading him in most polls, despite Paxton’s scandals, legal troubles, and far-right reputation. Paxton’s vulnerability in a general election has Democrats salivating—though a bruising Democratic primary could also make the seat harder to flip.
That said, the GOP drama might continue. Rep. Wesley Hunt continues to hint that he might challenge Cornyn, but party leaders are reportedly urging him to stop and support the incumbent. According to The Hill, some members of the National Republican Senate Committee have dismissed Hunt’s potential run as a “vanity project” that would waste resources and risk the party’s Senate majority.
Texas remains a tough race for Democrats. No Democrat has won statewide since 1994, and Trump carried the state by about 13 percentage points in 2024. But Democrats need to gain four seats to flip the Senate, and they are counting on a combination of races in North Carolina (where the GOP incumbent is retiring), Maine, Ohio, Iowa—and yes, Texas—to make it happen.
With the Senate at stake and the GOP fracturing, Texas could shift from a long shot to a game changer—and Democrats like Talarico are ready to take that shot.
