James Talarico has Democrats dreaming big after decades of dashed hopes in Texas

By Jeff Zeleny, Patrick Svitek, CNN

Fort Worth, Texas (CNN) — Democrats have been dreaming big in Texas for decades, awash in optimism that this could finally be the year to win a US Senate seat.

For the first time, lifelong Republican Pete Nodecker is joining them, planning to cast his ballot for James Talarico when early voting begins here next week.

“I’m rather disillusioned with the Republican Party,” said Nodecker, 81, a retired restaurant supplier. “The Republican Party has been hijacked. They’re not the Republican Party that I was a member of for all my life.”

In the final three weeks of the fall campaign, Talarico is seeking to build a coalition of voters to break a 38-year streak of Democrats falling short in their bid for Senate. He’s hoping to tap into the dissatisfaction of voters like Nodecker, who twice voted for Donald Trump, while motivating Democrats to believe in his ability to defeat GOP nominee Ken Paxton.

“I’m a Democrat in Texas, so we’re always a little bit nervous,” said Sue Reed, a member of the Tarrant County Democratic Woman’s Club. “But I would say this has been the most positive vibe and energy that we’ve seen in years.”

The modern ritual of Democratic optimism in Texas dates to at least 2002, when the party put together a “Dream Team” ticket led by former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who ran for Senate.

In 2014, Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis drew national fanfare as she ran for governor after a high-profile filibuster against abortion restrictions. Four years later, Beto O’Rourke shattered fundraising records and drew massive crowds as he challenged Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

Through it all, Democrats came up short — and sometimes very short. O’Rourke remains the high-water mark, losing to Cruz by less than 3 percentage points.

A marquee Senate contest

This year’s Senate contest has become one of the marquee races in the fight for control of the chamber, a leading example of how Republicans are scrambling to defend deeply red terrain. The seat almost certainly would not have been competitive if Paxton hadn’t defeated Sen. John Cornyn in the May primary runoff.

Talarico, a 37-year-old state representative, was born the year after the last Democratic senator from Texas, Lloyd Bentsen, was reelected in 1988. He has inspired sanguine Democrats and won over some Republicans frustrated by the president and their party.

“He impresses me because he’s willing to take questions from all sides,” said Glen Whitley, a retired Tarrant County judge, who has urged his fellow Republicans to “put country over party” and support Talarico. “I’m ashamed that Ken Paxton is even on the ballot.”

Paxton and his allies in Washington have launched a furious, nine-figure advertising campaign to paint Talarico as too liberal for Texas.

They have especially seized on his past comments about gender and religion, such as his remark during a 2021 legislative debate that “God is nonbinary.” He has since admitted that some of his comments “missed the mark” and has sought to moderate his views on transgender issues.

Paxton has accused Talarico of undergoing a political makeover to hide his true views from Texans.

“California already has two senators. They don’t need a third,” Paxton says in a staple of his stump speech.

Republicans are scrambling to unify their ranks against Talarico. Paxton said in a speech Friday that there are “a lot of apathetic Republicans” right now, suggesting it was due to the Iran war, and Trump has said he is “worried” about the race.

‘Trying to remain optimistic’

In one conversation after another, Democratic voters in Texas were upbeat at Talarico’s prospects over Paxton, even as some acknowledged an air of caution that the state’s long pattern of voting GOP could dash Democratic hopes.

“I think what’s different is that James has done such a great job of tapping into what a lot of people are upset about,” said Laura Leeman, a Democratic voter in Fort Worth. “And not just from one party or the other.”

As she attended a Democratic fundraising event at a Fort Worth gallery, Joyce Franklin said she was working to stay positive in the final weeks of a nail-biting campaign.

“I’m trying to remain as optimistic as I can without being totally let down,” Franklin said, recalling the devastation she felt in 2024 when Trump won a second term. “I don’t want to set myself up for that disappointment again, but I think this time we finally have the right formula to move forward.”

The grandson of a pastor and a seminary student himself, Talarico talks far more about faith than most Democrats. As he campaigns, he sprinkles in verses from the Gospel of Luke, along with the argument that love is a stronger motivating force than hate.

“His faith is important to him, and that’s something we don’t always see in Democratic candidates,” said Jill Fox, a Democratic voter from River Oaks. “I think that’s an interesting dynamic that’s attracting some independents and maybe even some crossover Republicans.”

Talarico has a master’s degree in theological studies from the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and is training to become an ordained minister.

A former middle school teacher in San Antonio, Talarico entered politics in 2018 when he ran for a Republican-held seat in the northern suburbs of Austin. The 29-year-old’s win made him the youngest member of the Texas Legislature at the time.

He quickly established himself as an advocate for public education and other bread-and-butter issues. However, he found himself competing for more liberal voters after Republican redistricting forced him to seek reelection in 2022 in an Austin-based district.

It was around that period that Talarico began voicing more progressive views on social issues — and offering some of the comments that he now refers to as “cringey.” Republicans are working hard to make sure their voters do not forget those moments.

GOP seeks to define Talarico

Marvin Rodak, who owns a coffee roasting and auto repair business in Fort Worth, said he was carefully following the Senate race and remained undecided as the campaign entered the home stretch. He said he was frustrated by the tariff whiplash from the Trump administration and record diesel prices, but also uncertain that he wanted to see Democrats control the Senate.

“The true Democratic Party is fading,” said Rodak, 75, who was raised in a Democratic household and became a Republican as an adult. “Democrats need to distance themselves from socialism.”

He said he was concerned by Paxton’s legal and political baggage, but not sold on Talarico’s ability to do the job without undue influence from Democratic leaders. He said he intended to carefully study both candidates before reaching a decision.

“I think every election is an opportunity to send a message,” Rodak said.

Rodak is the kind of voter who Republicans are intensely targeting in the final weeks of the race, hopeful they will come home once they learn more about Talarico.

From the start of September through Election Day, Republican-aligned groups are planning to spend $232 million — more than they’re set to spend on competitive Senate campaigns in Michigan and Maine combined. The bulk of the outside spending by the GOP has come from Texas PAC, a group affiliated with the Senate Leadership Fund, the top Republican super PAC in Senate races.

“If you care about your children, do not vote for James Talarico,” a woman says in one ad, suggesting Talarico supports gender-affirming surgery for minors.

Talarico voted against a 2023 bill prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors, but he now says he opposes surgeries and opposed the bill because it was too broad. In an ad of his own, he faces the camera directly and says: “No, I don’t support sex-change surgeries for kids.”

In trying to shore up its voters, the GOP has even deployed Paxton’s estranged wife, Angela Paxton, to make the case that Republicans should stick with the entire ticket, even if they have reservations about specific candidates.

In the final weeks of the race, Trump has focused relentlessly on Texas. On each of his last three visits, he has aggressively assailed Talarico, as he tries to rescue Ken Paxton’s candidacy. Vice President JD Vance is set to hold a rally Tuesday with Paxton in East Texas, a deep-red region where the candidate needs his base to turn out in large numbers.

Nodecker, who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 but became infuriated by him after his response to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, said he believes Trump’s frequent trips to Texas could backfire and motivate his critics more than his remaining loyalists.

“If anything,” Nodecker said, “it persuades me to go the opposite direction even more.”

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CNN’s Ashley Killough contributed to this report.