State Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate (left), addresses reporters July 6 with state Rep. Venton Jones after they visited a West Dallas food pantry.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
James Talarico has become a regular on the Dallas food circuit.
He’s ordered comfort food at Luby’s for a meet-and-greet. He’s had chicken enchiladas at the Stoneleigh P while watching the Mexico-England World Cup match. And he’s dug into brisket and pork ribs at Smokey Joe’s BBQ in southern Dallas.
The menu changes, but the purpose is political. North Texas is central to the Austin Democrat’s Senate campaign, providing votes, money and volunteers in the race against Republican Ken Paxton.
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Talarico is back in town Monday, meeting with voters at Disciple Central Community Church in DeSoto, where Democrats vote in high numbers.
“I’m basically going to be living here in North Texas over the course of this campaign,” Talarico told The Dallas Morning News. “We have to win here.”
During his recent stops, Talarico has emphasized lowering everyday costs, increasing access to health care and combating political corruption.
Last week, Talarico, a state representative, headlined a 750-mile “Frontera Tour,” visiting nine border communities for rallies, town halls and church visits. Paxton, the attorney general, publicized only one campaign event in the region, a brief speech in McAllen.
Now Talarico’s attention returns to North Texas, where he faces a different electoral challenge.
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To boost his chances in the high-stakes Senate contest, he has to maximize turnout in Dallas County and other blue pockets across the region.
James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate, sharing barbecue with Kris Manning, owner of Smokey Joe’s BBQ, during a campaign event June 2 in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
That effort will require more than frequent visits. Talarico will have to direct money, organizers and other campaign resources to maximize Democratic turnout in urban areas and cut into Republican margins in the suburbs.
Improving the numbers
The first task is getting more Dallas County voters to the polls.
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In 2024, less than 60% of Dallas County’s 1.4 million registered voters cast ballots. The lackluster turnout came with Vice President Kamala Harris leading the Democratic ticket and Colin Allred of Dallas running for the U.S. Senate.
Talarico needs a commanding edge in the Democratic strongholds of Dallas, Houston and Austin to blunt the statewide trend favoring Republicans.
Dallas County Democratic Party Chairman Kardal Coleman said Talarico could pump up vote totals in the Dallas area by expanding the reach of his campaign.
He suggested appearing at high school football games, including games with South Oak Cliff High School’s state champion Golden Bears.
“He needs the boots on the ground and the proper financial investment, but he also needs to go to the untraditional places, not just the Black church.”
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Paxton begins with a sizable structural advantage. Republicans have won every statewide election in Texas since 1994, and President Donald Trump carried the state by nearly 14 percentage points in 2024.
Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate nominee, at the Texas GOP convention June 12 in Houston.
Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle
Paxton can lose Dallas County and still prevail if he preserves GOP advantages in Collin and Denton counties and remains competitive in Tarrant County.
Trump’s 2024 performance illustrates that path.
Dallas was the only one of North Texas’ four largest counties to support Harris. Trump won Collin County by 10 percentage points, Denton County by 13 points and Tarrant County by 5 points.
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State Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Prosper, said Talarico’s progressive policy and cultural views place him out of step with most Texans.
“North Texas voters have a proven history of rejecting liberal Democrat extremists like Talarico,” Shaheen said.
Suburban push
Increasing turnout in Dallas County will not be enough. Talarico also is targeting nearby Republican-leaning suburbs.
In June, the Democrat held a Plano rally that organizers said attracted 4,000 people. At that event, he called Paxton the “most corrupt politician in America” and accused him of putting personal gain ahead of Texans.
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“This is not the end of a conversation. It’s the beginning of one,” Talarico said. “We’re going to have to unite all Texans on one team if we’re going to defeat this broken, corrupt political system.”
Paxton has dismissed the attacks and portrayed Talarico as a “radical” out of step with Texas voters. He has warned that a Democratic victory in Texas could cost Republicans control of the Senate.
Talarico’s turnout challenge is about more than geography. Since defeating U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas in the Democratic primary, he has worked to unite his party and strengthen his standing with Black voters who supported her.
Crockett could help him in Dallas, her political base, by rallying those voters behind his general election campaign. But she has not committed to campaigning for Talarico and said she’ll focus on promoting down-ballot Democrats.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas appearing May 9 at the Henry B. Tippie National Aviation Education Center in Dallas.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
Crockett and many of her supporters were disappointed by the narrative advanced by some of Talarico’s supporters that Crockett, an outspoken Black woman, could not win statewide office in Texas.
The meeting Monday in DeSoto is part of his push for party unity and his effort to energize Black voters for November.
“We have seen the Democratic Party take Black voters for granted,” Talarico said. “I am refusing to make those same mistakes.”
Coleman, the Dallas County Democratic Party leader, said many Crockett supporters want Talarico to provide more details about his outreach and agenda.
“The people attending the DeSoto meeting are going to vote Democratic, but they need to be fired up and hear something that they can believe in,” Coleman said.