7 Surprising Facts About James Talarico, Democratic Candidate for US Senate in Texas

Democratic Texas State Representative James Talarico, who is currently running for US Senate in the Lone Star State, has become one of the most visible young state lawmakers in the country. He’s got a choir-boy haircut. He wears tailored suits. He’s got a knack for going viral by coolly citing Christian scripture against culture-war policies. He has also captured a surprising corner of political TikTok and national media. No Democrat has won statewide office since 1994, so if Talarico were able to pull it off in a state where registered Republican voters outnumber Democrats by a significant margin, it would be quite remarkable. Here are 7 surprising things to know about the lawmaker the internet can’t stop talking about:

1. He Began His Career as an At-Risk Middle School Teacher

Years before taking the floor at the Texas Capitol, Talarico was a sixth-grade English teacher in the San Antonio Independent School District through Teach For America. He often cites his classroom experience (e.g. seeing students cope with underfunded supplies, food insecurity, and rigid standardized testing) as the primary reason he ran for office in his twenties. His biggest aspiration at the time was to overhaul state education funding.