Talarico Entering Ring in Senate Fight
after Calling National Democrats Soft
Capitol Inside
September 8, 2025
State Rep. James Talarico of Austin plans to launch a campaign for the U.S. Senate in his hometown of Round Rock on Tuesday night in an attempt to parlay the star power he's demonstrated as a legislator into a winning race for the seat that Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn is seeking again.
But Talarico will be gambling that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton eliminates the incumbent from the competition as a GOP nominee who would carry substantial personal baggage into a fall fight for the U.S. Senate seat here.
The prevailing sentiment inside the statehouse beltway is that Cornyn would be a shoo-in for another term if he's the nominee again for the GOP. But Talarico could have a fighting chance against Paxton as a challenger who's been a lightning rod for controversy - from a Texas House impeachment vote to FBI bribery probes to a marriage that's been on the rocks since his wife who's a state senator filed for divorce on biblical grounds.
Talarico will join Colin Allred in the field of Democrats competing for the right to face Cornyn or Paxton in the general election in 2026. A former congressional member from the Dallas area, Allred lost to Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz by 8 points in the race at the top of the ticket in 2024.
Allred was a darling with Democrats on the national level when he sought the promotion from the U.S. House to the Senate last year.
Republican U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston has considered a bid for Cornyn's seat as well. Democrats Beto O'Rourke of El Paso and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio have been included in recent polling on hypothetical Democratic fields for the Senate contest here next year.
O'Rourke and Castro expressed interests in potential Senate bids before Allred entered the race on July 1.
O'Rourke had the most support among the possible Democratic contenders in a Texas Southern University poll on the Senate race in the first half of August. O'Rourke - a former nominee for the U.S. Senate and governor as well - led Allred by 20 points in a hypothetical primary pairing with 58 percent of the TSU poll's participants in his corner.
Allred in contrast was up on Talarico by 7 points in a potential primary showdown for the Senate nomination with 50 percent support in the Texas Southern survey. But Talarico wasn't as well known among the Texas electorate a month ago despite a huge following nationally as a TikTok sensation who's been in big demand on national talk and news shows in recent months.
A former public school teacher and educational nonprofits agency head, Talarico is a novel candidate for the Democrats as a Presbyterian minister who's led a fight against Christian nationalism and legislation that's milking religion like the state's new Ten Commandments mandate for public schools. He's been a force on the Public Education Committee as a member during each of four terms in the House.
Talarico represented House District 52 in Williamson County for four years before relocating to House District 50 in Travis County after Republicans redraw his initial seat for the GOP in 2021.
"The national Democratic Party has forgotten how to fight," Talarico said in a post on X last week. "But in this critical moment, we need fighters — not folders.
We need a Democratic Party that’s a little less Washington and a little more Texas."
more to come ...
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