U.S. Senate hopeful James Talarico (D-Round Rock) spoke on Monday, Feb. 23, at The Marc in San Marcos, which was crowded with supporters, as part of his Take Back Texas Tour.
Talarico, currently a state representative in Williamson County, is running against Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett for the Democratic Party’s senate nomination in the March 3 primary. Both candidates are vying for the senate seat currently held by Senator John Cornyn.
The event was opened by two speakers, Move Texas State President Vanessa Trevino and College Democrats at Texas State President Sierra Stage. Trevino said voting in primaries is important for the health of the nation.
“Early voting is underway and will continue through Friday, February 27, and San Marcos has multiple polling locations, including at the LBJ student center on the third floor,” Trevino said. “If you can’t vote early, the last day to cast your vote in this primary election is election day, which is Tuesday, March 3.”
After Trevino and Stage, Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) spoke about her campaign history and her friendship with Talarico.
“In the legislature, we have this idea that legislators are either a show pony or a workhorse,” Zwiener said. “James is all show pony, and he’s all workhorse.”
Zwiener said she feels that Talarico is not only capable of winning the November general election but also changing the entire political conversation in Texas.
After Zwiener spoke, she welcomed Talarico on stage, to applause from the crowd that packed into The Marc for the event.
Talarico opened by saying the election isn’t about left or right, but about the working class versus billionaires.
“This is a people power movement to take on this broken, corrupt political system,” Talarico said. “This is truly a campaign of, by and for the people, we’re not just trying to win an election, we are trying to fundamentally change the politics in this state and in this country.”
According to Talarico, the issue with modern politics in America is division. Instead, he pitched an alternative love-based politics.
“That word ‘love’ is maybe the most important word in the English language,” Talarico said. “It’s certainly the most important word in all of our lives, and yet we rarely hear it spoken in our politics.”
Talarico’s idea of love is rooted in his Christian faith. Talarico is currently in seminary to become a Presbyterian minister.
“Jesus could have told us to love our immediate family members. He could have told us to love our close friends,” Talarico said. “Those would have been easier commandments to follow, but he told us to love our neighbors. That’s inherently a public thing.”
Talarico called for ICE to be disbanded, calling them secret police. He also called for the impeachment of the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
Talarico said he believes public education and higher education are under attack in Texas and in the U.S.
“I led the fight against those efforts to defund public schools, colleges and universities at the state level,” Talarico said. “We need a teacher in the U.S. Senate.”
Academic freedom is another policy Talarico said he would defend from what he categorized as attacks on the state and federal levels.
“I am going to fight to make sure that we protect academic freedom in this state and in this country, ensuring that educators at all levels have the freedom to teach, that students have the freedom to learn and to read,” Talarico said. “These are freedoms in our schools that are being threatened by some of the most powerful politicians in our country and it has to stop.”
No other candidates for U.S. senator currently have a scheduled campaign event in San Marcos or Hays County.
