Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico held a town hall in Corpus Christi, discussing energy jobs, prison reform and trade policy.<\/p>\n
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico brought his campaign to the Coastal Bend on Monday, holding a town hall in downtown Corpus Christi and taking questions on energy, criminal justice reform, agriculture and foreign policy.<\/p>\n
Speaking with 3NEWS after the event, Talarico rejected the idea that Texas must choose between environmental protection and high-paying energy jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s folks in our politics who say we have to choose between good-paying energy jobs and protecting our natural resources — that\u2019s a false choice,\u201d Talarico said. \u201cWe can add to all of the great oil and gas jobs that we have across South Texas with new jobs in wind and solar and batteries and geothermal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talarico said expanding into emerging energy sectors would allow Texas to remain a national leader while addressing climate concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how we keep Texas as an energy leader in the 21st century, just like we were in the 20th,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Asked why he believes he can win statewide office as a Democrat, Talarico pointed to his past electoral record. \u201cI have a history of flipping Trump seats,\u201d he said, citing a win in traditionally Republican Williamson County. \u201cNow we\u2019re doing it at a statewide level. We\u2019re bringing people together across the political spectrum to end one-party rule in this state.\u201d<\/p>\n
On criminal justice reform, Talarico called for federal action to address conditions inside Texas prisons, including the lack of air conditioning in many facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving a justice system doesn\u2019t mean we should have cruel and unusual punishment in this country,\u201d he said. \u201cI absolutely think there\u2019s a federal role here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talarico also criticized trade policies he said have harmed Texas farmers and ranchers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a U.S. senator who\u2019s going to have the backs of Texas farmers and ranchers,\u201d he said. \u201cNot crazy tariffs that hurt our industries.\u201d<\/p>\n
The candidate weighed in on protests at immigration detention facilities and rising tensions around detention centers, saying Texans should continue speaking out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we need more Texans stepping up to protest these abuses,\u201d Talarico said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re called to do as Texans.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the interview, Talarico also addressed questions about foreign policy, criticizing what he described as misplaced priorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want Greenland. We want healthcare,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want lower costs at the grocery store.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faith has been a prominent theme in Talarico\u2019s campaign, and he said his focus is on what he views as consistency between belief and action.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy concern is the members of Congress who are quoting scripture and then violating the teachings of Jesus every day,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need more legislators who are going to act like Jesus, whether they\u2019re Christians or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talarico said strong turnout at the Corpus Christi town hall was one of the most notable moments of the stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was not anticipating this many people to show up here on a cold evening on a weekday,\u201d he said. \u201cThe place was packed, and I think it shows the kind of energy that\u2019s building all over the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talarico is running in the Democratic primary against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who visited Corpus Christi earlier this month as part of her own campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico held a town hall in Corpus Christi, discussing energy jobs, prison reform…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":{"0":"post-139485","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-corpus-christi","8":"tag-corpus-christi","9":"tag-corpus-christi-headlines","10":"tag-corpus-christi-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}