James Talarico says earning Black Texans’ trust is central to his Senate campaign

In an exclusive interview with theGrio, the Democratic nominee discusses his outreach to Black voters as a new poll suggests those efforts are resonating.

James Talarico knows he can’t win the U.S. Senate seat in Texas without Black voters. That is why the Democratic nominee is traveling across the state, meeting with Black Texans to engage them on the issues they care about most.

From holding town halls in predominantly Black neighborhoods in Houston to visiting HBCU campuses, to campaigning with America’s first Black president, Barack Obama, Talarico says he is willing to go anywhere and talk to anyone to bring more Black voters into his coalition.

Talarico, 37, is aiming to do what no Democrat has done in Texas since 1988 — before he was even born. In a sit-down interview with theGrio, the Texas state representative says his outreach to voters is sincere and that he is committed to delivering results for the more than 4 million Black people living in Texas.

“There is no way to win Texas without Black Texans, and there’s no way to effectively represent this state in the United States Senate without listening to and showing up for Black communities,” Talarico told theGrio.

The Senate candidate described his engagements with Black community leaders, faith leaders, and elected officials as a “joy,” sharing, “It’s been a real privilege to visit Black-owned businesses across the state, to worship in our beautiful Black churches all over Texas.” He said he is “meeting Black Texans where they’re at,” including traditional and non-traditional Black media outlets.

“Over the course of this campaign, if I hope to earn the respect, the trust, and hopefully the support of every Black Texan, I am not taking any voter for granted, I’m not taking any community for granted,” said Talarico, who is facing Republican nominee Ken Paxton, the state’s embattled attorney general.

Black voters overwhelmingly backed Talarico’s opponent in the primary election, U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. He has since been working to win over Crockett’s base of supporters.

It appears Talarico’s outreach to Black Texans is already paying off. A New York Times/Sienna Poll of likely Black voters in Texas found that 80% said they would vote for him if the election were held today. That percentage of support is slightly higher than the number of Black voters who said they would vote for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa (78%) and who recalled voting for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election (78%). However, Talarico still has work to do. Among polled Black voters, 12% said they have a “very unfavorable” view of him.

The Senate hopeful has sought to highlight the most pertinent issues facing Black communities across the state, from the attack on voting rights through redistricting that eliminated Black representation in Congress to the maternal mortality rate, which he notes is “three times deadlier for Black women.” As theGrio exclusively reported in May, Talarico unveiled a plan to tackle the maternal mortality crisis with proposals like improved data collection, provider training, and investments in maternal health research.

Talarico said his campaign has also been engaging Black leaders on issues like funding gaps for HBCUs, housing affordability, universal health care, and “ensuring that we can all get by in this economy.” He added, “We’re gonna do that with and for Black Texans all over this state.”

The U.S. Senate candidate also vowed to protect Black history as Republican leaders in Texas, as well as the Trump administration, have attempted to censor or eliminate aspects of Black history from public spaces, including school classrooms, national parks, and museums.

“I share that concern as a former Texas public school teacher,” Talarico tells theGrio. He noted that as a state representative, he led a fight against the “historical whitewashing in our civics curriculum.”

“There was a bill to remove figures like Dr. [Martin Luther] King and Frederick Douglass from our civics curriculum in Texas, and I confronted the bill author on the floor of the Texas House and talked about the need to teach all of our history, the good, the bad, and the ugly,” he recalled. He urged, “if we don’t learn our history—our true history—then we are doomed to repeat it.”

Reflecting on his own education in Texas, the birthplace of Juneteenth, Talarico said, “Like many Americans, as you grow up, after you leave school, you still learn history that you weren’t taught, that you weren’t exposed to.” As conservatives argue that aspects of American history, like U.S. slavery, can be offensive to white children, Talarico asserted, “We need to ensure that our history curriculum, our social studies curriculum, our civics curriculum is telling kids the truth…that’s the only way that we can learn from our mistakes and move toward a more perfect union.”

As he makes his pitch to Black voters in Texas, Talarico acknowledges that some may be skeptical. He urges them not just to listen to what he says but also to look at what he’s already done as a state lawmaker.

“I have a track record in the state house of showing up for, listening to, and fighting on behalf of my Black constituents and Black Texans all over the state,” he said. He continued, “Fighting against this voucher scam that’s defunding our schools, fighting back against these racist redistricting maps, [and] fighting for police accountability.”

Talarico recalled working with the family of Javier Ambler, an unarmed Black man killed while in police custody in 2019. Ambler’s death was filmed for the reality TV show “Live PD” as Williamson County Sheriff’s deputies arrested him after a vehicle pursuit. Talarico successfully passed legislation, Javier Amber’s Law, to ban such recordings for television.

“Those shows increase violent interactions between law enforcement and their Black constituents,” said the Texas lawmaker. “No longer can those shows contract with law enforcement agencies in our state.” He added, “That’s just one example of what’s possible when we have leaders who are listening to and stepping up for Black Texans. And that’s the kind of Senator I wanna be in Washington. And we’re gonna do that together as one team on November 3rd.”