{"id":634202,"date":"2026-03-05T15:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T15:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/634202\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T15:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T15:10:10","slug":"james-talarico-speaks-at-uh-rally-during-take-back-texas-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/634202\/","title":{"rendered":"James Talarico speaks at UH rally during \u201cTake Back Texas\u201d tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

State Representative James Talarico, a Democrat from Texas and US Senate candidate, speaks during a campaign event at the University of Houston Monday, March 2, 2026 in Houston. | Oscar Herrera\/The Cougar<\/p>\n

UH students gathered on March 2 as Texas Senate candidate James Talarico brought his \u201cTake Back Texas<\/strong><\/a>\u201d tour to campus, delivering a speech centered on unity, grassroots organizing and what he called a \u201cpolitics of aggressive love.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rally was part of a statewide campaign aimed at building a coalition ahead of the 2026 Primary elections<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are building a movement to take back our state and take back our country,\u201d Talarico said. \u201cA campaign of, by and for the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Focus on free speech\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

During the speech, Talarico touched on a recent interview he filmed with late-night host Stephen Colbert on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Corporate media executives were pressured not to air the segment, and the issue was part of a broader threat to First Amendment rights, Talarico said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA threat to any of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all of our First Amendment rights,\u201d Talarico said. \u201cWhether you\u2019re a Democrat or a Republican, whether you\u2019re a progressive or a conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Political strategy\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

A recurring theme in his speech was love and unity. Talarico repeatedly called for love in politics as a force for change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He tied that message to his background in public service and his religious beliefs, arguing that politics should be about improving everyone\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been able to pass major bills to bring down the cost of housing, childcare, prescription drugs, including insulin. I am trying to love my neighbor through public policy,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m trying to make my neighbor\u2019s life a little easier and a little better. That kind of love in our politics is getting harder and harder to find.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Students said Talarico\u2019s message on love in politics stood out to them the most.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI did like his aggressive love,\u201d said history junior Cameron Burns. \u201cI really do feel like that\u2019s the message we need to send.\u201d<\/p>\n

Immigration, government accountability<\/b><\/p>\n

Talarico addressed immigration enforcement and criticized tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/strong><\/a>, which he described as abuse by federal agents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Law enforcement efforts should prioritize violent crime, cartel members and human trafficking rather than targeting families and the working class, Talarico said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cICE shot a mother in the face, kidnapped a five-year-old boy and executed a man in broad daylight on our streets before our very eyes,\u201d Talarico said. \u201cIt is time to tear down this secret police force and replace it with an agency that\u2019s actually going to focus on public safety for all of us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Talarico called for the impeachment of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and the prosecution of agents who have abused their power.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we have a Senate majority, we\u2019re going to haul these masked men before Congress so the world can see their faces,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

State Representative James Talarico, a Democrat from Texas and US Senate candidate, meets with attendees at a campaign event at the University of Houston Monday, March 2, 2026 in Houston. | Oscar Herrera\/The Cougar<\/p>\n

Student reaction<\/b><\/p>\n

Students said it was important for candidates to visit universities and speak directly with young voters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the most part, politicians have sat in their high towers and they haven\u2019t talked to the people,\u201d said history junior Joel McGee. \u201cThis right here is just a beautiful moment, it\u2019s so vulnerable, it\u2019s so open and I think that\u2019s the type of politics that we need, we need politicians that keep up with their constituents and actively talk to their constituents.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Students felt that Talarico is a strong progressive option in the race and that his tour across the state, including smaller towns, helped demonstrate his commitment to reach potential voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw he was coming last week, and I put it in my calendar to make sure to come down here and check it out,\u201d said supply chain engineering junior Brayson Brown. \u201cHe mentioned going to my hometown of Amarillo, which is a much smaller, highly Republican place, and just having him do that shows how committed he is to his constituents and his supporters. So that really drew me into him.\u201d<\/p>\n

news@thedailycougar.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"State Representative James Talarico, a Democrat from Texas and US Senate candidate, speaks during a campaign event at…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":634203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[90,4345,23232,267400,358,5524,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-634202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-elections","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-james-talarico","11":"tag-student-voters","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-texas-politics","14":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116177209293585460","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}