James Talarico
James Dell Talarico is an American politician, Presbyterian seminarian, and former public school teacher serving in the Texas House of Representatives since 2018. He is a member of the Democratic Party and has been called a "rising star" among Texas Democrats.
Representing Texas House District 50, Talarico serves as Vice Chair of the Texas House's Trade, Workforce, and Economic Development Committee, and is also a member of the Public Education and House Administration Committees.
In September 2025, Talarico announced his candidacy for the 2026 U.S. Senate race in Texas.
Early life and education
Talarico was born in Round Rock, Texas, to Tamara Causey, a single mother. He was later adopted by Mark Talarico, and has a younger sister. He attended Round Rock ISD schools and graduated from McNeil High School in Williamson County, Texas. At McNeil he excelled at speech and debate. In theater he was cast in leading roles, such as Danny Zuko in Grease, enabling him to hone his public performance skills.Talarico's grandfather was a Baptist preacher in South Texas who Talarico says taught him that Christianity "is a simple—though not easy—religion, rooted in two commandments: 'love God and love your neighbor.'"
Talarico earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin, where he organized students for tuition relief. He was a member of the Friar Society, the University of Texas's oldest honor society. He later earned a Master of Education degree in education policy from Harvard University.
In August 2022, while a member of the Texas House of Representatives, Talarico began pursuing a Master of Divinity at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
Career
In 2011, Talarico joined Teach For America, teaching sixth-grade English language arts at Rhodes Middle School on the west side of San Antonio. After two years of teaching, he became the Central Texas executive director for Reasoning Mind, a Texas nonprofit focusing on bringing technology to low-income classrooms.Texas House of Representatives
During his four terms in the Republican-controlled legislature, Talarico was the lead sponsor of multiple bills, 16 of which became law, including eight related to education, childcare, or youth workforce development.20182019
Talarico launched his campaign for the Texas House shortly after incumbent state legislator Larry Gonzales chose not to run for reelection. At age 28, Talarico won both the special and general elections against Republican nominee Cynthia Flores, garnering media attention for walking the full length of the district.Talarico was sworn into the Texas House of Representatives on November 20, 2018. He was appointed to the Public Education and Juvenile Justice Committees. During the 2019 session he was the Texas Legislature's youngest member.
In the 86th Texas Legislature, Talarico filed the Whole Student Agenda, a legislative package with bills addressing public education policy. Two bills from this list were passed by the legislature: HB3012, which required students who were suspended from school have an alternative means of receiving coursework, and HB455, which would standardize a model recess policy. Governor Abbott vetoed HB455.
20202021
Talarico was reelected, defeating former Hutto City Councilmember Lucio Valdez with 51.5% of the vote. For the 87th Legislative Session, he was reappointed to the Public Education and Juvenile Justice Committees and appointed to the Calendars Committee.During the 87th legislative session, Talarico filed HB54, also known as Javier Ambler's Law, and the legislature passed it. It prohibits state law enforcement agencies, except game wardens, from entering into contracts with reality TV shows that film them in the line of duty. This was in response to the role Live PD is alleged to have played in the killing of Javier Ambler by Williamson County, Texas police. Talarico had previously criticized Sheriff Robert Chody's handling of the incident, calling for his resignation.
Talarico was the primary author of HB30, which provided a path for minors in the criminal justice system who have been adjudicated as adults or who are eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to earn a high school diploma instead of pursuing a high school equivalency.
Talarico was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes during a five-day stint in the ICU after a 2018 campaign event where he walked 25 miles across his district. After his diagnosis, and learning that insulin can cost Americans around $700 per month, he supported the passage of a bill that caps insulin prices at $50 per month.
In the summer of 2021, Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives, including Talarico, organized a quorum-bust in an attempt to stop the passage of legislation they saw as restricting voting rights. They flew to Washington, D.C. to lobby the Senate to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Act, which would have superseded parts of the state legislation. Talarico was one of the first Democrats to return to Texas as the quorum break progressed, arguing that Texas Democrats had shifted the debate and other issues needed to be handled in legislature. Some representatives who remained in D.C. strongly criticized him for this. Quorum was eventually reestablished and the legislation passed.
At the end of the legislative session, Texas Monthly magazine named Talarico one of the Top 10 Best Legislators.
20222023
After his district was made significantly more Republican during the 2020 redistricting process, Talarico announced that he would run in the neighboring House District 50, a safe Democratic seat being vacated by Celia Israel. His previous district was a swing district.He won the primary election with 78.5% of the vote and the general election with 76.8% of the vote.
During the 88th legislative session, Talarico was the primary author of House Bill25, which would create the Texas Wholesale Prescription Drug Importation Program and allow Texas to import lower-cost Canadian medications that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Talarico was an outspoken critic of legislation that would have required the display of the Ten Commandments in all elementary and secondary classrooms, on the constitutional grounds of separation of church and state. He called the measure "un-American" and "un-Christian". The bill was not signed into law.
20242025
Talarico defeated Nathan Boynton in the Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election.In 2025, Talarico continued to be a major voice in opposition to placing the Ten Commandments in Texas public schools. The specific legislation, SB10, required every classroom to visibly display a poster containing the Ten Commandments, sized at least 16 by 20inches. When the bill was first brought to the floor of the Texas House, Talarico called a point of order that delayed its passage. The bill ultimately passed the legislature, but videos of his remarks against it went viral and led to an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience.
During the legislative debate over private school vouchers, Talarico, who opposed the legislation, attempted to amend the bill to have a statewide referendum determine whether the program would go into effect. The legislation passed and was signed into law without the amendment.
In August 2025, Talarico was one of 51 Democratic members of the Texas House who left the state to delay the passage of new congressional maps. While he was absent from the state, Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit to expel Talarico and 12 other representatives from the House by declaring their seats vacant. Talarico and the others named in the suit returned to the state before the Texas Supreme Court ruled in the case.
2026 U.S. Senate campaign
On September 9, 2025, Talarico announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in the 2026 elections. He and U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett are running for the Democratic nomination. The incumbent, John Cornyn, is seeking reelection. Texas Democrats have not won a U.S. Senate election since 1988 and have won no statewide elections since 1998.Political positions
Talarico supports healthcare reform. He supports making buy-in Medicare or a public health insurance option available to every American.Talarico supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has condemned Israel's "atrocities in Palestine" and "war crimes" and advocates for adjusting U.S. aid to Israel to block the sale of offensive weapons to a government led by Benjamin Netanyahu while continuing to support defensive systems such as the Iron Dome. Talarico is a critic of the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC. He criticized Democrats for supporting Israel's war in Gaza during the 2024 presidential election.
Talarico is an outspoken critic of Christian nationalism, calling it "a cancer on our religion", and has often said "there's nothing Christian about Christian nationalism". He has cited his faith and the teachings of Jesus, especially the commandment to love one's God and neighbor, as the reason for launching his political career. He has called politics "another word for how we treat our neighbors". Talarico has called Christian nationalism "the worship of power—social power, economic power, political power, in the name of Christ" and has accused Christian nationalists of turning Jesus "into a gun-toting, gay-bashing, science-denying, money-loving, fear-mongering fascist", arguing that it is "incumbent on all Christians to confront it and denounce it" in a 2023 guest sermon that has more than 1 million views on YouTube. In July 2025, Talarico appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience and discussed the influence of faith on his political career.