Before state Rep. James Talarico (D-Round Rock) was a seminarian, a social media star, or the next great hope for a long-suffering Texas Democratic Party, the 36-year-old U.S. Senate candidate was a sixth grade teacher in San Antonio.

Talarico taught at Jeremiah Rhodes Middle School on the West Side in 2011 — right after the Texas Legislature cut $5.4 billion from public education to address a budget shortfall.

“I had 45 kids in one classroom and there weren’t enough desks for all those students,” Talarico recalled at a 2024 campaign event for San Antonio state House candidate Laurel Jordan Swift. “In the richest country in human history, in one of the richest states, I had kids sitting on the air conditioning. That got me mad.”

The experience was so impactful that Talarico finished out his time in Teach for America, went to work for an education nonprofit, and then ran for a state House seat in 2018.

Now a major contender for his party’s U.S Senate nomination, Talarico returned to San Antonio on Wednesday a few hundred thousand social media followers richer — and with a loyal support base eager to see him take on candidates with more money and experience.

Backyard on Broadway was packed with supporters young and old, phones stretched into the air to record his every word.

A New York Times reporter took notes from the balcony where Talarico’s team was filming, meanwhile the Bexar County Party Chair could be heard remarking to passersby about the stunning turnout.

“The reason I’m here in San Antonio the day after I launched my campaign for U.S. Senate is because this city means so much to me,” Talarico told the audience on a sweaty summer evening.

State Reps. James Talarico, Gina Hinojosa, Diego Bernal and Steve Allison listen to Laurel Jordan Swift during a campaign event for Swift’s HD121 race in October of 2024. Credit: Brenda Bazán / San Antonio Report

In the years he’s been away, Talarico has become a force in the Texas House — enough to scare Republicans who dubbed him a threat worth snuffing out just a year into the job.

Now in his fourth term, he’s still one of the House’s youngest members, but gaining fuel as Democrats’ spokesman throughout the brutal school voucher fight.

“He’s one of the most prepared legislators I’ve ever worked with,” said state Rep. Diego Bernal (D-San Antonio), who was in the audience Wednesday night and plans to support Talarico in the crowded Democratic Senate primary.

“It’s almost obnoxious in a way because he really is as good a person as he comes off,” Bernal said. “But he’s also really, really smart.”

State Rep. James Talarico answers questions from community members at a Town Hall with Bexar County Commissioner for Precinct 4 Tommy Calvert, former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro and Beto O’Rourke at Stable Hall on June 27. Credit: Brenda Bazán / San Antonio Report

To many supporters, however, Wednesday night captured another side of Talarico. One they say embodies what makes him different from other politicians.

The event came just hours after conservative youth activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at a college rally in Utah, and Talarico said he nearly canceled it.

“I disagreed with Charlie Kirk on nearly every political issue, but he was a child of God. He was our sibling. Our brother. A human being endowed with infinite worth and entitled to unconditional love,” he said.

Ultimately, he decided that postponing the event would be giving in to the goal of political violence, at a time when people need to be together.

“There is something broken in this country,” he said to applause. “It’s been more than ten years of this kind of politics. Politics as a bloodsport. Politics as total war. It tears families apart and ends friendships. It makes us all feel terrible all the time.”

Texas state Rep. James Talarico kicked off his campaign for U.S. Senate with a rally at Backyard on Broadway in San Antonio on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

That willingness to embrace faith in a way other Democrats find squeamish, and his commitment to civility in an increasingly volatile national political landscape, is what brought 27-year-old Jacob Rodriguez out to Wednesday’s event.

After following him on social media for several years, Rodriguez showed up early to see the candidate in person.

“James is very faith based, and I think he’s able to easily connect with both sides,” he said. “I think people are ready for change here … and to just have that mutual respect.”