{"id":746,"date":"2026-03-04T18:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T18:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/746\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T18:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T18:33:11","slug":"texan-james-talarico-becomes-a-fresh-face-of-democrats-midterm-hopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/746\/","title":{"rendered":"Texan James Talarico becomes a fresh face of Democrats’ midterm hopes"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) \u2014 James Talarico<\/a> did not mention Donald Trump<\/a> when he greeted exuberant supporters at his primary night celebration.<\/p>\n

But the newly minted Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in Texas is now a front man for the political opposition to the Republican president, not just in his own state but around the country. With his victory over U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, the state lawmaker from Austin will test whether a smiling message of unity and change is enough to answer voters\u2019 frustrations amid discord at home and now a war abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not just trying to win an election,\u201d Talarico told supporters in the Texas capital early Wednesday. \u201cWe are trying to fundamentally change our politics, and it\u2019s working.\u201d<\/p>\n

The campaign provided \u201cLove thy Neighbor\u201d signs to people in the crowd.<\/p>\n

The question for Talarico as he heads into the general election campaign is whether he can generate enthusiasm from voters who opted for Crockett because they saw her as the more aggressive fighter against Trump. Crockett conceded to Talarico on Wednesday morning, saying that \u201cTexas is primed to turn blue and we must remain united because this is bigger than any one person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talarico was endorsed by Kamala Harris, the party\u2019s 2024 presidential nominee who had backed Crockett in the primary.<\/p>\n

Democrats\u2019 long losing streak in Texas <\/p>\n

Talarico will need all the help he can get in a Republican-dominated state where Democrats have gone three decades without winning a statewide race. He will face either U.S. Sen. John Cornyn or state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who advanced to a Republican runoff<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Conventional political wisdom has it that Talarico was the stronger Democratic candidate for November, especially if Republicans nominate Paxton, a conservative firebrand who has weathered allegations of corruption and infidelity over the years. <\/p>\n

Although Democrats are often choosing between moderate and progressive candidates in primaries, they faced a largely stylistic choice in Texas. <\/p>\n

Talarico, 36, is a Presbyterian seminarian who quotes Scripture and rarely raises his voice. Crockett, 44, is an unapologetic political brawler who hammers Trump and other Republicans with acidic flourish.<\/p>\n

Both have been reliably progressive votes in their current roles and telegenic faces across cable news and social media. Both represent generational change for a party with aging leadership. Each called for a more equitable economy and society. Each talked about reaching sporadic voters. <\/p>\n

But Talarico\u2019s broader argument is one that he could have made regardless of whether Trump was in the White House. Talarico\u2019s campaign, he said often, is about addressing a country whose fundamental divide is not partisan but \u201ctop vs. bottom.\u201d He regularly assails the rise in Christian nationalism. A former teacher, he has advocated for public education \u2013- and against Texas conservatives\u2019 policies to restrict curriculum and reshape how U.S. history is taught.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just a good friend and he\u2019s a serious advocate for the disenfranchised and a serious policymaker,\u201d said Lea Downey Gallatin, 40, an Austin resident who became friends with Talarico when they interned together for a congressman.<\/p>\n

Talarico aims to broaden the party\u2019s Texas base<\/p>\n

Crockett promised Democrats that she could increase turnout within the party\u2019s base, while Talarico campaigned on the theory that he could pull new people into the party\u2019s tent. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t tell you how many have come up to me, whispering that they\u2019re not a Democrat,\u201d Talarico said as he campaigned in San Antonio in the closing days of the primary campaign. \u201cI can\u2019t tell you how many young people have said it\u2019s the first time that they\u2019ve ever voted, and that they are participating for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he strolled through the city, Talarico posed for pictures and greeted the singer of a Tejano band playing nearby. He later spoke to hundreds of people at the historic Stable Hall, a 130-year-old circular structure built for showing horses and now a converted event center. Hundreds more, unable to get into the full event, wound around the corner and along the sidewalk for blocks.<\/p>\n

Inside, Lori Alvarez, a 39-year-old who works for a disaster relief nonprofit, said she supported Talarico because \u201che really listens to what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s going to be able to make change in Washington for us,\u201d said the married mother of three young girls.<\/p>\n

Yet that was not what attracted so many voters to Crockett.<\/p>\n

Crockett\u2019s voters must decide whether Talarico is a fighter<\/p>\n

Troy Burrow, a 61-year-old Navy retiree, called Crockett \u201crugged\u201d and \u201cthe only one I see fighting for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI like how she doesn\u2019t back down from anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burrow said some voters probably saw Talarico as more electable because he is more soft-spoken. But, he said, \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get into the gutter with these folks, because that\u2019s where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unofficial primary returns showed Talarico with a dominating performance around his home base of Austin, including in mostly white areas. He outpaced Crockett across much of rural and small-town Texas, including in the Rio Grande Valley, where Trump made gains in his 2024 presidential victory among Hispanic voters. Crockett was strongest in metro Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth, including areas with large concentrations of Black voters. <\/p>\n

Crockett is Black. Talarico is white. <\/p>\n

A Democratic win in Texas would require stitching together that multiracial and multiethnic coalition, spanning the metro areas and heavily Latino South and West Texas, while limiting GOP margins in whiter rural counties. <\/p>\n

In 2018, Democrat Beto O\u2019Rourke came the closest to that mix, losing to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz by about 215,000 votes or about 2.5 percentage points. With both parties holding competitive primaries Tuesday, Democratic primary voters outnumbered Republicans by more than 110,000 out of almost 4.4 million \u2014 with some ballots still being tallied. Because Texas does not have party registration and allows voters to choose either party\u2019s primary ballot, Democrats saw their advantage as a sign of enthusiasm beyond the party\u2019s usual base. <\/p>\n

Talarico, meanwhile, keeps fighting his own way.<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight, the people of our state gave this country a little bit of hope,\u201d he said Tuesday, \u201cand a little bit of hope is a dangerous thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Barrow reported from Atlanta, Figueroa from Austin, Texas, and Beaumont from San Antonio. Associated Press writer Maya Sweedler in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

This story has corrected the last name of Texas voter Troy Burrow, from Burroughs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas (AP) \u2014 James Talarico did not mention Donald Trump when he greeted exuberant supporters at his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[362,61,431,1058,840,38,286,50,115,8,288,361,290,1057,291,1061,1062,9,67,1060,964,377,360,766,7,1059,761,363,365,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-2026-elections","9":"tag-ap-top-news","10":"tag-austin","11":"tag-beto-orourke","12":"tag-conservatism","13":"tag-donald-trump","14":"tag-elections","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-government-and-politics","17":"tag-headlines","18":"tag-james-talarico","19":"tag-jasmine-crockett","20":"tag-john-cornyn","21":"tag-kamala-harris","22":"tag-ken-paxton","23":"tag-lea-downey-gallatin","24":"tag-lori-alvarez","25":"tag-news","26":"tag-politics","27":"tag-race-and-ethnicity","28":"tag-religion-and-politics","29":"tag-ted-cruz","30":"tag-texas","31":"tag-texas-state-government","32":"tag-top-stories","33":"tag-troy-burrow","34":"tag-tx-state-wire","35":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","36":"tag-u-s-republican-party","37":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}