James Talarico, Texas

James Talarico is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas in 2026 and a member of the Texas House of Representatives since 2018. An eighth-generation Texan, he earned a bachelor's degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin and a master's in education policy from Harvard before teaching sixth-grade English at a middle school in San Antonio and later pursuing a Master of Divinity at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. In the legislature he has focused on public education funding and opposed private school vouchers, and his Senate campaign, which set fundraising records for a Texas Democratic candidate, centers on reducing the influence of billionaire donors in politics.