State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, launched his bid to be Texas’ next United States Senator at his first campaign rally on Tuesday in Round Rock, which is just north of Austin. The event drew at least 1,000 attendees with only 12 hours’ notice.
Speaking in his hometown, Talarico stood alongside legislators and family members as he called for a “new kind of politics” and a renewed Democratic party in an age of polarization.
The former San Antonio middle school teacher and Harvard alumnus has been expected to join the race for months, growing his national prominence on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” one of the nation’s most popular podcasts. Talarico also garnered attention on national news amid state redistricting efforts that led him and other state Democrats to flee the state for Chicago.
Now, Talarico faces former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, who lost a Senate race against Sen. Ted Cruz in 2024, and former NASA astronaut Terry Virts in a Democratic primary next May. The winner of the Democratic primary will likely face either incumbent Sen. John Cornyn or Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the two front-runners in the Republican primary, next November.
Talarico has already scheduled daily rallies through Saturday across the state, and said his campaign had raised more than $1 million in 12 hours.
