James Talarico
The Democratic nominee for the 2026 U.S. Senate election in Texas, who has a Master of Education degree in Education Policy from Harvard University.
Mr. Talarico is a charismatic and inspiring speaker whose altruistic campaign speeches have uplifted and mesmerized voters from El Paso to Houston. Talarico has served since 2018 as a member of the Texas House of Representatives. During his four terms in a Republican-majority legislature, he served as lead sponsor of multiple bills, 16 of which became law, including eight focused on education, childcare, or youth workforce development.
Talarico was an outspoken critic of legislation that now requires the display of the Ten Commandments in all elementary and secondary classrooms. He opposed the law on the constitutional grounds of separation of church and state. He calls the measure "un-American" and "un-Christian". Talarico also opposed legislation installing private school vouchers. This legislation was approved as well. On February 16, 2026, Talarico was scheduled to appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.Colbert said ABC canceled the interview because of the Trump administration's "intensifying pressure against broadcast TV networks.” Colbert accused ABC of censorship and posted the interview to the show's YouTube page instead, where it had gained 7.3 million views by February 18, 2026. Then, on September 10, 2026, it happened again. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had “threatened” ABC Network when Jimmy Kimmel Live scheduled Mr. Talarico for an interview.
The segment was pulled from the show and again, posted in full to YouTube. The interview is available on Kimmel's YouTube channel. As another example of how seriously Republicans take Mr. Talarico’s fame, the Republican midterm convention on September 9–10, 2026 may have convened in Dallas in response to James Talarico’s sensational popularity in Texas, and his proximity to winning a senate seat there. Regarding religion, Talarico is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He has cited his faith and the teachings of Jesus as the reason for launching his political career. He is a critic of Christian Nationalism and has called it "a cancer on our religion." He said, "there's nothing Christian about Christian Nationalism…it is the worship of power." On the economy, Talarico criticized trickle-down economics as a "false gospel", saying, "today, we have an economy that rewards wealth instead of work." He adds, "We have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis. We should repeal top 1% tax breaks and close billionaire tax loopholes."
