Rising Texas Democratic Party leader Rep. James Talarico will be in San Angelo on Thursday to rally voters in his campaign for U.S. Senate at the Performing Arts Center.
Talarico first made statewide news as the CEO of Reasoning Minds, a non-profit that developed elementary math and science software for schools in Central Texas.
In September of 2017, he announced his intention to run for Texas House District 52, around Austin, telling the Austin American-Statesman “After this past legislative session, we need new leaders willing to fix our broken school finance system, which I see as the No. 1 priority from the state Legislature…”
Talarico is a former public school teacher in San Antonio, with a bachelor’s degree in government from The University of Texas, and a master’s degree in education policy from Harvard University.
After being thrice re-elected to the Texas House, the 36-year-old lawmaker has developed a reputation for being willing to debate issues on Fox News, with an easy eloquence, and unperturbable style.
Earlier this year, Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian, visited about his faith and other matters on Joe Rogan’s podcast, where his statements garnered much attention, telling Rogan he believes the biggest political divide in America right now is “top versus bottom.”
“Billionaires want us looking left and right at each other so that we’re not looking up at them,” Talarico said. “The people at the top work so hard to keep us angry and divided because our unity is a threat to their wealth and their power.”
Talarico went on to say that social media platforms and cable news outlets profit from all of the conflict and division.
On the topics of religion and the current culture wars, Talarico decried Texas’ legislation to put the Ten Commandments in every classroom, characterizing the move as “exclusionary” and un-Christian.
“If we have to force people to put up a poster, to me that means that we have a dead religion,” Talarico said.
In September, as he was announcing his intention to run for U.S. Senate, “The Atlantic” Magazine published an extensive feature on Talarico, allowing him to reach a different national audience, which shared some insights about how the young Texan is viewed by prominent national Democratic leaders, many of whom have shared videos of Talarico speaking on the floor of the Statehouse.
According to a report last week from The Texas Tribune, Talarico raised $6.2 million in the first three weeks of his bid for Senate.
The report stated: “The staggering total establishes Talarico as an immediate fundraising juggernaut and gives him an early edge over his rival in the Democratic primary, former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, who announced a $4.1 million haul over the three months since his July 1 campaign launch.”
The San Angelo rally will take place from 6:30-9 p.m. at the Brooks and Bates Theater inside the San Angelo Performing Arts Center, 2 Gillis St.
1 Comment
Pingback: Talarico Addresses an Overflowing Crowd in San Angelo - The Concho Observer