James Talarico

James Talarico is the 2026 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, challenging four-term Republican incumbent John Cornyn. An eighth-generation Texan, Talarico was born and raised in Round Rock, Texas, and has served in the Texas House of Representatives since 2018, where he flipped a district that Donald Trump had carried just two years earlier. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Government from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Education in education policy from Harvard University, and a Master of Divinity from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, where he is training to become a pastor.

Before entering politics, Talarico was a sixth-grade English teacher at Rhodes Middle School on the westside of San Antonio, one of the poorest zip codes in Texas, and later served as executive director of an education nonprofit. His personal story — raised by a single mother who escaped an abusive relationship and rebuilt their lives on the eastside of Austin — drives his commitment to fighting for working families.

As a state legislator, Talarico has been a fearless progressive voice, going viral across social media for his faith-driven challenges to Republican colleagues on issues from school vouchers to the Ten Commandments in public schools. He ran his Senate campaign without accepting a dollar from corporate PACs, with 98% of his donations coming from small-dollar contributors of $100 or less. Having raised over $20 million and winning a competitive Democratic primary, Talarico is widely seen as a rising star with a genuine shot at making history by returning a Democrat to statewide office in Texas for the first time in over three decades.

Talarico has fought to:

• Fund neighborhood public schools and expand educational opportunity for all Texas children
• Lower the cost of child care, housing, and prescription drugs for working families
• Expand job opportunities for young adults across Texas
• End the influence of billionaire mega-donors and corporate money in our politics
• Protect democracy and fight corruption in government
• Ensure every Texan has access to quality, affordable health care
• Invest in rural communities and deliver broadband access statewide
• Protect reproductive freedom and the rights of Texas families
• Develop responsible immigration and border security policies that reflect Texas values
• Create good-paying jobs through a clean energy economy

As a state representative, Talarico has championed policies rooted in his faith and his belief that government must work for ordinary people — not the wealthy and powerful. In the U.S. Senate, he will bring that same conviction to Washington to take on the billionaires and corporate interests that have rigged the system against working Texans.