- cross-posted to:
- texas@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- texas@lemmy.world
James Talarico won the Democratic nomination for a US Senate seat in Texas on Tuesday, capping a remarkable rise from state lawmaker and seminary student to the party’s standard-bearer in one of the key races of the 2026 midterm cycle.
With his blend of faith-based populism, bipartisan appeal and generational energy, Talarico defeated Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, a firebrand beloved by the party’s base but who struggled to dispel concerns that she could defeat a Republican in a state that has not elected a Democrat statewide in more than 30 years.
A jubilant Talarico told supporters in Austin before the race was called: “We are not just trying to win an election. We are trying to fundamentally change our politics. And it’s working.”
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I actually really like everything I’ve seen out of Talarico. Hopefully he can give Christians an off ramp from Christian Nationalism, MAGA and the Republican party.
Hope he can turn Texas blue
I’m not Christian myself, but he seems like the good kind. I’ve heard people upset with him for going to seminary school, but I am not someone to judge based off their beliefs; I judge actions. I grew up with a lot of very good Christians, I grew up with a lot of very shitty Christian’s. I learned that is the character of the person that matters, and from all I’ve see of Talerico, he seems on the level.
I would love to see some good Christian examples back. If you actually live by the teachings, at least the ones I grew up with (grew up Lutheran), they can be a positive force. But the mainstream, megachurch, chuddy, nationalist version of it that’s taken over this nation is an affront to nearly everything I was taught it stands for. I’m no longer a believer (probably never was), but I still have many positive associations with my former faith. I still know a lot of “normal” Christian’s who hate what is happening. My possibly naive hope is that Talerico can provide that off ramp for some of the other extremism going on in the religious world.
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Please vote
To do so during the repug fear campaign, make absolutely certain of your “personal” voting location since this last round had lots of us being moved around in a thinly veiled attempt to keep our votes from counting.
Another Christian rises to the top. Ugh.
So you blindly think every Christian is bad?
Not blindly.
With evidence in front of my eyes.
no, 1/2 are bad the other 1/2 are deluded and many both, all believing in “teapots”. What sort of critical thinking can someone that easily deluded bring to the world in these troubled times ?
They might be “decent” (benefit of the doubt) despite being religious but that’s only one criteria needed in a representative.
yes.
Just like they probably think every gun owner is bad, and every SUV / pickup owner, and every business owner, and every landlord, and pretty soon you’ve alienates all your potential allies and the Republicans win again :(
I will never choose a Republic卐n as an ally. That’s just silly.
Yeah, the Republicans win because the left is alienating the right winger liberals, right?
No, but in part because many on the left demonize entire demographics (e.g. Christians) and drive them into the hands of the fear-mongering Republicans.
I blindly think anyone the FCC tries to cancel is good
I hope that I am wrong about this, but I am not optimistic about Talarico.
He said all the right things to position himself as not just a progressive candidate, but as a christian candidate. White, male, middle aged, handsome, well spoken, seemingly levelheaded, and gives off strong Mr. Rogers vibes. Those things make him comparatively more palatable than most other democratic candidates, especially in Texas.
However, the democrats have had more than a handful of bad actors and turncoats in recent years. Candidates that talk the blue talk and walk the blue walk, but once they take office they quickly turn face. Sinema, Fetterman, Gillibrand, Robin Webb; not an exhaustive list of democrats that turned their backs to the rhetoric and policies that got them elected, but their the ones that spring to my mind first. Schumer, Jeffries, Pelosi, and a host of others could be rightly accused of actively aiding the republican-led undermining of the rule of law (and civil rights) while in office.
The Streisand effect has a long history of backfiring on public officials, so much so that it’s not too far of a stretch to wonder if the administration banked on the FCC debacle to elevate Talarico. To be clear, I’m not entirely pessimistic about Talarico; I want to believe that there are still good people who want to get into public service for the right reasons. I’m just not optimistic because he’s almost too good. Running a sleeper candidate against one of the stronger progressive voices in congress (who frequently and loudly called out the GOP’s bullshit) is exactly the kind of thing that the far-right think tanks would do.
Follow the money. I think Talarico is at least trying to run a small donor funded campaign. Crockett was taking Israel’s money and kicking unfavorable media out of her campaign events and denying it afterwards. I don’t really believe in the existence of “blue maga” – I think it’s like searching for the “leader” of “antifa” – but she’s one of the closer things I’ve seen to it.
I mean, Crockett has literally voted for funding Israel. Her average voting record is par with Hakeem Jeffries. She’s mean to people I do not like, but she has consistently been a showman. I’ll take someone who pledges to not vote for funding genocidal ethnostates over someone who votes for them any day.
Crockett took Israeli blood money so fuck her.
Appearances can be deceiving. From what I’ve read, Talarico seems the more progressive of the two. If he wins, we’ll find out–the system is entrenched and hard to buck for anyone, until enough more progressive members are there to form a coalition with some power.
But I have no doubt that no matter what, he’ll be vastly better than if the R wins. I’m much more worried about Platner turning out to be a Fetterman/Sinema than I am about Talarico.
However, the democrats have had more than a handful of bad actors and turncoats in recent years.
If you were worried about a turncoat, I’d argue Crockett had much worse vibes. Israeli apologist, surveillance state supporter, pretty cynical in her position on immigration, and deeply self-promotional in a Stacey Abrahams way.
Also, her UAF fixation is… not great.
Talarico has his problems (took a big chunk of cash from the casino industry, for instance). But his politics at least seems more populist.
Idk if that’s going to matter. Odds of winning a statewide office in Texas as a Democrat have been dogshit for thirty years.
But if I’ve got to live with a mushy liberal Dem as a Texas senator, I’m happier with him than the alternative.
texas is the most gerrymandered state , at least one of the most gerrymandered to hell.
More dems voted in the primary than republicans. Beto lost to Cruz by only like 2 points or something as well. I’m cautiously optimistic
way too close, and republicans almost always win the next time if the previous one is razor thin margins for democrats.
Honest question but why would taking casino money be a problem. Unless you’re a religious nut with a gambling addiction it’s not really a bad thing. Lots of jobs associated with casinos that will explode the local economy.
I’m religious, but that’s not why I have an issue with gambling. To quote people I mildly disagree with on a different issue, I believe that gambling should be “safe, legal, and rare”. I’m anti prohibition of most vices, but I think gambling has an atrocious social risk profile, and since its only benefits seem to have been taking some of white people’s money back to native tribes, it should have been left for reservations.
That said, I’m hopeful for Talirico
why would taking casino money be a problem
Cause the casino was Miriam Adelson’s, and she’s one of Trump’s biggest backers.
That’s really bad. Any Israel connection is going to drive his chances way down. Especially if that ghoul Addleson is involved
That’s really bad.
It’s not great. But you’re going to find it hard to locate a politician without this kind of relationship, because anyone who doesn’t get their beak wet.
Especially if that ghoul Addleson is involved
The Addlesons spread around a ton of money, especially at the state level.
ITT: neoliberal shits trying hard to drive a false narrative cause they are terrified progressive candidates are coming for them. You should be. We are gonna throw you corporate slaves out.
Anyone who thinks Talarico won’t align with the neoliberal shits the moment he steps into office is either very naive or very foolish. His state voting record says he’s more than happy to play ball with the Libs.
That said, way better than a Paxton or Cornyn. I’ll take the liberal Christian over the Christian Fascist any day.
We are gonna throw you corporate slaves out.
Blue MAGA has no place in the future DNC and this scares the shit out of them. White, middle class, “as long as its the Dems doing it, its fine” voters have had their identity catered to for the ENTIRETY of the modern manifestation of the Democratic party.
That period is coming to an end.
The false narrative being that Crockett took AIPAC money? What makes you feel that narrative is false?
he did call people in the DNC LIBs, pretty much a tankie response to anything.
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I’m about 100% sure you’re reading that comment wrong. Considering Crockett was the more neoliberal candidate and was supported by the corporate DNC. The more progressive candidate who spoke out against corporate money and wants to go after billionaires won.
Ah ok, yeah I definitely misunderstood the comment. Thanks
I inherently distrust anyone religious, but it’s not really up to me and he seems like a very reasonable pick for Texas. Plus, y’all actually got a real primary! That’s rare!
With the comments talking about Crockett taking the same mistakes as Harris, it reminded me of when Harris, a DA at the time, ran for Senate here in CA. We didn’t really get serious opposition in that primary, even though the next highest was the house member (?) representing Santa Ana. She… uh… dabbed during a debate. It was a desperate move in a race drowning in money and favoritism for Harris. Harris won the primary by like, 30+ points iirc.
Now things don’t look like they can simply be bought as easily like that. People are paying attention and are rightfully pissed off at the DNC, AIPAC and the rest.
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Guy who is definitely going to scam you: “Everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt!”
Really? You can’t think of anyone that you should inherently distrust? I can! Cops, CEOs, hedge fund owners, stock brokers, self-help gurus, anyone trying to sell you something, insurance agents, bankers, billionaires, Nazis, religious zealots, politicians… I can think of at least a couple more groups that should be inherently distrusted. If your group spends its existence abusing others- I will discriminate against and distrust you inherently.
It has been wisely and sadly said that Democratic candidates are chosen for us by the Republican Party.
that would be the neoliberal(gop lite) DEMs, those are your bidens, schumers, hakeems, gillibrands,etc and NEWSOMEs.
Thankfully we bucked that trend here though.
I have a very bad feeling about this guy.
Never trust a Christian fundamentalist. They can get away with anything by their rules if they just repent, whatever the fuck that means.
What makes you think the guy is a Christian fundamentalist? From what I’ve seen, he’s been very outspoken about the criticality of the separation of church and state.
Just so you know, Christian fundamentalism is not at all defined by an individual believer’s stance in regard to the Free Exercise Clause. Someone being a “Christian fundamentalist” simply means they believe in Biblical literalism. It may or may not coincide with other beliefs, political or religious. And even then the purely religious definition tends to shift over time.
It’s really just the faux-fundamentalists who don’t actually believe in their book at all, and who have hijacked religious belief to shore up failing hold on political power, that don’t like separation of church and state.
I’m not a fan of Talarico, I think he’s an unknown quantity at this point, but I offer this clarification in defense of the many non-political and apolitical fundies I have known in my time. Please do not confuse them with the hyper-politicized neofascist version of “Christianity” now popular in right-wing power grabs.
As for Talarico, he has personally been a critic of “Christian nationalism” and doesn’t identify as anything even close to Christian fundamentalism but rather as a Presbyterian. It’s about as vanilla as you can get these days and leans liberal: they’re the kind of Christians uber-conservative Christians love to hate.
Sure, but I was trying to highlight he’s not an extremist. Presbyterians aren’t bible literalists
You’re right, I misunderstood. Thanks for the correction.
All good, I probably should have been more clear
I don’t believe christians when they say that.
Talarico gives me Mike Johnson vibes.
The other good news is that Cornyn and Paxton are headed to a runoff, so they can beat the shit out of each other while Talarico campaigns for the general.
Looks like that situation might change. Apparently trump has been “truthing” that he’s going to endorse one of them and ask the other to step down instead of letting it go to a runoff, and obviously his choice is going to be Paxton. You know, just normal democracy things where the king picks the winner instead of the people.
this going to cause one of them to be resentful, incensed like with mtg, when TRUMP dint endorse her, he pratically ignored her the whole time ever since he won the election.
Hopefully the fact that the republican party impeached Paxton will help turn people away from voting for him. He also famously committed fraud while in office. Even if they don’t vote for Talarico, less voters for Paxton is a good thing.
also plus his wife divorcing him, over him being “christianlly unfaitfhul”
Dear left wingers, you need to come to terms that this is what’s stopping you. Republicans are easy to defeat, only Democrats can lose to them. Democrats are only there to stop left wingers.
What exactly is stopping us? Showing up and getting the more Progressive candidate in? Your comments not making any sense.
What the fucking insane non-sense are you spewing?
The further left-wing candidate won the primary. The AIPAC/ pro-Israel candidate lost.
As a non-American. What happens to Jasmine Crockett now? Does she still have an official political role?
yea, until 2027, she has a shot again in '28 in another seat.
Yes. She retains her seat in the House of Representatives.
Primary elections are where a political party selects their candidate to run in the general election in the fall. Jasmine Crockett will not be on the ballot as a representative of the Democrat party. She could still run in the general, but it would be for a different party or, if Texas allows it, an independent. Some people do that, but it’s usually considered a real dick move, as it tends to split the vote and make it more likely for the opposing party to win. It’s basically a good way to end your political career for good.
So she’s out of politics??
She still has to finish out her current term in the House of Representatives. She just won’t be continuing her run for the Senate. I don’t think she can run for re-election to the House now, since she would have to take the place of Frederick Haynes, who won the primary for her seat. If she wants to run for another position in the fall, it would likely be something at the state level.
She’ll probably run for another position. Yet to be seen.
heard she has to change districts.
Talarico, the more popular of the two, will do his best to consume Crockett whole (and possibly her family if he can find them) in order to consolidate the voting base and display his prowess. Failure to do so could lead to a third party situation, such as Andrew Cuomo, who was consumed far later than the primary.
It seems barbaric but really it’s the only way.
Habibi, why is Cuomo in my shawarma?
This entire shawarma is now haram, such a waste
The stakes are unusually high because a messy Republican primary was headed to a runoff on Tuesday night, with the four-term incumbent senator John Cornyn fighting for his political life against the scandal-scarred attorney general, Ken Paxton.
He just blue DINO he probably vote with Republicans more then anything. Also I don’t want a Christian nationalist running or winning and what I see when I see this guy.
As opposed to the woman who took a luxury trip to Israel paid by AIPAC?
Have you seen his actual voting record or the organizations he has led? You are just out here spouting complete nonsense without knowing a thing about him. You make yourself sound incredibly stupid.
Doesn’t make him better, just means Texas had two shit choices. Fuck any one who puts their imaginary friend before the people they represent.
Again, you aren’t really showing much mental prowess right now. He actively and loudly pushes against his imaginary friend being involved with the people he represents.
No your just a dope anyone probably states they are a christian will always choose that over facts and science. Even looks the part. I rather have a Satanist then a christian.
No your just a dope anyone probably states they are a christian will always choose that over facts and science. Even looks the part. I rather have a Satanist then a christian.
No, you’RE just a dope. Anyone WHO states they are a Christian will ?probably? ?always? (it can’t be both) choose that over facts and science. HE even looks the part. I WOULD rather have a Satanist thAn a Christian.
If you are going to call someone a dope, then maybe don’t have nine grammatical errors in a three sentence post.
Google AI tried to tell me there was no record of her traveling to Israel until I specified August 2023 in the search. Very shady.
You should probably look into him more than you have. He’s a Christian but he’s definitely not a Christian nationalist.
Hey “There will be no midterms, there will be no elections, the DNC has this rigged along with the GOP” team, where you at? You still planning on sitting all this out in “protest?”
Thank you!
It’s one thing to be angry at what’s happening but the mood they put in is so bleak (intentionally or not) and they just want everyone to not do anything about it.
There are both genuine burnt-out doomers out there, and there are astroturfers and bots that feed on their cynicism and boost it, making even more doomers. It’s a self-sustaining cycle that spreads rapidly and serves all the purposes of those who don’t want us to vote.
There absolutely is going to be election interference, there always is, and it always takes the form of social messaging in the US. Where people make a mistake is assuming it’s going to be one or two large-scale attacks on democracy, when in reality it’s thousands and thousands of micro-attacks, everything from capitalizing on male sexual insecurity all the way through to instilling doubt in science, through to feeding cynicism and doubt about our process with rumors and predictions. There are whole farms of these people and bots out there just spreading through every conversation-space on the internet.
You can’t change the minds of millions of people, but you can make millions of people confused or unsure what’s actually happening. It works just as well to make people vote wrong or not vote at all, but people don’t view the little things as the actual threat, people are still looking for large conspiracies, which are less realistic and harder to maintain by an administration made largely of utter morons.
I love how we’re both getting ineffectual, impotent downvotes just for talking about it. There are a lot of people who have all their emotions attached to the idea that nothing can be done, because it prevents them from feeling accountability.
Revolutionary optimism is the way to go
AIPAC money and a Harris endorsement appears to have obliterated an 18 point polling lead. That’s crazy to think about.
obliterated an 18 point polling lead
Gotta wonder whether that lead ever existed. YouGov flip-flopped on Crockett the minute polls actually opened
I wrote about this yesterday. Harris and Schumer, and possibly Jefferies, all seem to have the mierdas touch.
The Colbert fiasco with the FCC trying to silence Talarico really did a number here.
Love that Trump still manages to fuck things up for himself.
The Colbert fiasco with the FCC trying to silence Talarico really did a number here.
and also, because the OG situation:
I can’t tell if that’s Barbara Streisand or Jennifer Aniston.
They basically handed him the primary via Streisand Effect.
Colbert worked the refs brilliantly
That’s the most sane thing in America politics for a while lol. It’s crazy that she couldn’t predict that it would happen.
Harris is running for Pres again in 2028, she has learned nothing, and we will all suffer the cost.
As long as we get a primary, she won’t make it past that
Primaries are meaningless when it comes to presidential candidates. The courts have ruled that the political parties are under no obligations to respect those results.
The 2016 and 2024 DNC actions certainly proved that.
She didn’t make it to the primary even before she was a certified failure.
I received a metric fuckton of texts that were like, “ZOMG YOU GUYS WE ARE SO REPUBLICAN AND CROCKETT HATES ICE CAN YOU BELIEVE IT-ZORZ?!?!?!?” They seem to trace back to a shady republican group. Apart from a couple of milquetoast Cornyn ones, everything else I got was for various Dem candidates despite my living in a very red zip code.
The campaigns have excellent lists, and somebody on the right wanted blue voters to know how very “terrified” they were of her. The only reasonable alternative is that she ran them herself as a low-grade false-flag, and in either case it made me go ahead and decide on Talarico, though I’d have happily voted for either in the general. I think he’s made such a brand of being a blue christian that he’d probably feel obligated to make separation of church and state an important part of his brand, and he’s speaking very explicitly to the wealth divide in a way she hasn’t.
I do tend to think the dust-up over the Talarico’s Allred comment has at least some truth to it, but while I assume he’s much more calculating than his public persona, even in the worst case the story hit my (admittedly white) ears like someone who assumed that his allyship exempted him from micro-aggressions, rather than his being some cackling hypocrite. He’s got his work cut out for him, but if he can energize the base, recover Trump 2024 Hispanics, and get a couple of percentage points’ worth of red voters to flip or even just say, “meh” and stay home, he’s got a chance.
Realistically, I think the most likely scenario is that we’re looking at a pre-guns Beto campaign that comes close but can’t get over the hump versus an unpopular Republican, but I think he’s the best chance we’ve had since then to flip a seat. All of which is incumbent on elections happening semi-normally.
