Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rep. James Talarico told members of the Hispanic business community that Texas voters should ignore campaign promises and instead judge candidates by their records, even as he faces backlash for changing his stance on boys participating in girls’ sports.
In a virtual appearance Wednesday with the United States Hispanic Business Council (USHBC) as part of its “In Dialogue: Texas” series, the 36-year-old Talarico told the panel he was speaking remotely after being diagnosed with the flu and ordered to isolate in Dallas. “I’m running a fever and I'm my most contagious right now,” he said.
“I guess I've been shaking too many hands on the campaign trail.” Highlighting his legislative record, the four-term state lawmaker who represents Austin and parts of Pflugerville pointed to the 60 bipartisan bills he helped pass in the Texas House. Those measures, he said, cut property taxes for small businesses, lowered the cost of housing and prescription drugs, raised teacher pay and improved public education. He also highlighted his refusal to accept corporate PAC money.
“I’m not going to go to Washington to represent the Democratic Party. I have no interest in that. I’m going to Washington to represent all 31 million Texans,” Talarico said.
“So I will always put Texas above any political party.” Talarico, an eighth-generation Texan and former sixth-grade teacher on San Antonio’s West Side, framed his public service around the Christian commandment to “love your neighbor.” He said teaching in one of the state’s poorest ZIP codes, where he once had 45 students in a single classroom, pushed him into politics. “My granddad always specified that that second commandment had no exceptions.
There were no qualifications,” said Talarico. “I was supposed to love all of my neighbors. Not just my neighbors who look like me, not just