The words of James Talarico, the new Texas senator, are unlikely to surprise anyone. "David was not as big or as strong as Goliath. He didn't have as many weapons, but he had hope. He had faith and he had a sling. You have been my sling. Thank you, thank you. The people of Texas have been my sling, and tonight we have defeated Goliath," he said last night in a heartfelt victory speech in Austin surrounded by his supporters and press from around the globe.
His contest with Attorney General Ken Paxton, handpicked by Donald Trump after forcing out powerful Senator John Cornyn for not being sufficiently loyal, has undoubtedly been the main event of the night of the midterms. Democrats have been dreaming of winning there for decades. Every time a blue wave approached, regardless of who was president, they dreamed of it. Beto O'Rourke came very close, Colin Allred, a former NFL player and congressman, generated high expectations, but defeat came time and again. Until now.
Overcoming ideological barriers
Talarico, a seminarian and high school teacher, has performed one of the miracles of the campaign, and his speech was in line with what he has been and defended since the beginning of the year. A declaration of principles about the type of politics he wants to represent and the worldview that has led to this progressive tsunami, characterized mainly by a punishment of Trump, his government, and data centers.
Talarico argued that the fundamental division in the United States is not between left and right, but between ordinary citizens who pay taxes and struggle to make ends meet and the economic and political elites, led by Elon Musk, who are no longer satisfied with paying less and accumulating wealth, but want power, a lot of power.
"We just reclaimed Texas," he proclaimed, more measured than euphoric, emphasizing that "All the money in the world cannot compete with the people of Texas," a conclusion to the central theme of his campaign against the idea that Musk, who has spent nearly $500 million of his fortune in this election cycle, mostly to promote Paxton and Texas conservatives, has been defeated. "A politics of division cannot compete with a politics of love."
The eyes of the entire country and the world were on him this week. Democrats had not placed a senator in Kansas since 1932, but Texas is the second-largest state in the country, one of the economic engines and one of the centers of the country's transformation. It wasn't just Talarico. Hispanic Gina Hinojosa won the election and will be the governor of the state, and progressives swept the entire state legislature. A brutal punishment vote even in districts that Trump had won by more than 15 points just two years ago.
"We were the underdogs in this race. We faced nearly 40 years of doubt and disillusionment. We faced over $300 million," Talarico said, referring to Trump and the major Republican Super PACs, the investment vehicles that manage fortunes. "They played dirty, but do you know why they did? They played dirty because they were desperate, but we never lost hope, we never lost faith. Against big money and with everything against us, we reclaimed our power," he insisted.
If these midterms have been the most expensive in history, with over $11.6 billion in ads and campaigns, Texas has specifically been the one that moved the most money, with over $573 million spent just on ads, according to AdImpact. Republicans had a significant advantage, but the Democrat achieved unprecedented fundraising numbers, especially in the last months when victory stopped seeming like an impossible dream.
From Harvard to high school teacher
James Talarico was born in 1989 on the outskirts of Austin. He studied Education at the University of Texas and earned a master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard. Before entering politics, he worked as a high school teacher in public schools in his state, an experience that began to define his discourse on educational inequality and the struggles of working families. He also studied theology and is a member of the Presbyterian Church, a central element to explain his victory. The midterms have elevated all kinds of candidates: pragmatic, centrist, and even socialist, in an unprecedented number. But in Republican strongholds, places like Kansas, South Carolina, and certainly Texas, that could not be the profile. If Kansas has entrusted a Methodist pastor with a quiet revolution, Texas has put itself in the hands of a young man who combines economic progressivism with a strong Christian inspiration that constantly uses biblical quotes to advocate for solidarity and social justice.
Talarico was elected state congressman in 2018. His leap to national politics began with his victory in the Democratic primaries in March of this year, where he unexpectedly defeated Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, a much more well-known figure with a significant base of supporters and much greater fundraising capacity. Crockett opted for a direct confrontation with Trump and the Republicans, while Talarico, with a gentle demeanor, who does not raise his voice, opted for a broader coalition, trying to attract independents, young people, Latinos, and even disenchanted Republicans with positive messages and not just anger.
The strategy has been a total success. In recent weeks, there has been an army of disenchanted Republicans who, after decades of voting for any candidate who put their party first, have renounced Al Paxton, the state attorney general appointed by Trump. Surely the worst possible candidate. Someone who had been rejected in the past, who had suffered an impeachment, who was accused of corruption, someone unfaithful who broke his marriage and from whom images emerged from last New Year's in Dubai, with his mistress and two fugitives from justice who had donated to his campaign.
The punishment vote has not only been against Trump and his policies but also towards a tarnished politician. During the campaign, Talarico also traveled through the most conservative areas of the state, paying special attention to the Latino electorate and using social media videos that garnered millions of views. He is not an epic speaker, he does not have the speed or aggressiveness of Abdul El Sayed, the new senator from Michigan, the first Muslim in history. But he does have the tone of a small church pastor in whom the neighbors trust.
Republicans tried to attack him for his appearance, his voice, for not having a known partner. They nicknamed him Talafreako, claimed he was not Christian, that he disappeared in the middle of the campaign not due to a long and strange flu but because he was committed to a mental institution. The regulators even managed to prevent recorded interviews with him from airing by star presenters of Late Night Shows. It was all in vain. He focused on "love," on the cost of living, wages, healthcare, and the influence of billionaires in politics. And it was enough.