James Talarico won the Texas Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, defeating Rep. Jasmine Crockett. Within hours, conservatives began uploading clips drawn from years of his social media posts, podcast interviews, and legislative floor speeches, targeting his commentary on race, gender, religion, and immigration ahead of a November general election in a state that has trended heavily Republican.
Talarico, a former state legislator, built a national profile by making himself ubiquitous on social media. That visibility gave opponents hours of material to mine.
The Republican effort reflects a strategy to define Talarico before he can introduce himself more broadly to Texas voters. President Donald Trump won the state by nearly 14 points in the most recent presidential election, and Democrats have spent decades struggling to make Texas competitive.
A social-media profile that invites scrutiny
Talarico was a state legislator barely known outside his district before he started building a national profile. He sat for lengthy podcast interviews and posted heavily on social media. The grandson of a Baptist preacher and a seminary student himself, Talarico often makes a biblical case for progressive policies, according to the Associated Press.
Republicans circulated clips of a legislative floor speech in which Talarico said, “God is nonbinary.” He later explained that he was being “a little provocative” to make the theological point that “God is beyond gender.”
A second clip shows Talarico saying, “Our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat out front” — cutting off the remainder of his sentence, “and a lock on the door.”
Five years ago, in a post lamenting mass shootings targeting Black, Hispanic, and Asian Americans, Talarico wrote, “Radicalized white men are the greatest domestic terrorist threat in our country.”
Republican consultant Chris LaCivita shared that post on social media and suggested it was “great ad copy” for his party. LaCivita is working for a super PAC supporting incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, who faces state Attorney General Ken Paxton in a runoff for the Republican nomination.
Trump and national Republicans weigh in
President Trump told Politico in an interview that Talarico is “a terribly weak candidate” who is “more woke than even the very highly untalented Jasmine Crockett.” He predicted Talarico would be “much easier than her” to defeat in a general election.
Samantha Cantrell, a spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said, “He is radically out of touch with Texans and they will not vote for this in November.”
Trump has said he will endorse in the Cornyn-Paxton runoff but has not announced when he will make a decision or for whom. Republican leaders want him to back Cornyn, who is seeking a fifth term.
Talarico primes supporters for criticism
During a victory speech Wednesday, Talarico warned his supporters to expect sustained attacks.
“They’re going to throw everything they have at us,” he said. “They’re going to call me a radical leftist. They’re going to call me a fake Christian. They’ll call our movement un-Texan, un-American. They’ll call us a threat.”
He attributed the attacks to entrenched interests, telling the crowd they were coming “because we’re a threat to their corrupt system.”
Campaign spokesperson JT Ennis said, “Our campaign is building a movement poised to change the politics of this state and take power back for working people. While they lob stale attacks to mislead Texans, we are uniting the people of Texas to win in November.”
Democrats point to a recent model — with caveats
Democrats point to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s successful campaign as a recent example of a Democrat who overcame intense scrutiny over progressive statements that had become a political liability. Mamdani went on Fox News and apologized to New York Police Department officers for past criticism, including a call to “defund this rogue agency” in 2020.
New York and Texas differ substantially in their political terrain. Trump won Texas by nearly 14 points and lost New York by nearly as much.
Democrats are also hoping Republican primary voters will favor Paxton, who has weathered allegations of corruption and infidelity and has his own history of controversial remarks, according to the Associated Press.