\u201cWe are trying to fundamentally change our politics, and it\u2019s working,\u201d Talarico, a fourth-term representative in the state house, told supporters at an election night event in Austin just after midnight. \u201cThe number of young people who showed up to vote in this election is unprecedented. The number of Texans who have never voted before who showed up in this election is unprecedented. The number of independents and Republicans who voted in this Democratic primary is unprecedented.\u201d<\/p>\n
Representative Jasmine Crockett conceded early Wednesday morning at her Dallas headquarters, throwing her support behind Talarico ahead of the November general election. Pundits have framed the result as moderation defeating progressivism. Still, the candidates have little daylight between them on policy. On some issues, like cryptocurrency, Crockett is more closely aligned with Democrats and Republicans who don\u2019t want to hinder its growth, despite concerns. Crockett also drew criticism from the left for voting to send offensive weapons to Israel and cut off humanitarian funding<\/a> to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which provides humanitarian aid and services to Palestinian refugees, and for participating in an AIPAC-funded trip to Israel<\/a> in 2023. Talarico, in contrast, has never taken a dime from the pro-Israel lobbying group and said in a recent podcast interview<\/a> that he supports banning the sale of offensive weapons to Israel. But the real difference between them was strategic, with Crockett turning her ire toward the Trump administration. At the same time, Talarico went after billionaires and corporations, as the Washington Monthly\u2019s Bill Scher pointed out last month<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Crockett\u2019s answer to the MAGA movement is to take pages out of Donald Trump\u2019s playbook, regularly engaging in verbal sparring matches with her Republican colleagues. She made headlines for referring to Governor Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, as \u201cHot Wheels\u201d and saying that Latinos voting for Trump have a \u201cslave mentality.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n By contrast, Talarico has reached out to MAGA voters by appearing on \u201cmanosphere\u201d podcasts<\/a> like \u201cThe Joe Rogan Experience\u201d\u2014a move Kamala Harris apparently regrets not making<\/a> in 2024. While Crockett\u2019s adoption of MAGA\u2019s bare-knuckled tactics might arguably have a place in the Democratic party, and seems to be bolstering other Senate wannabes like Graham Platner in Maine, it didn\u2019t work here. Talarico appears to take his cue from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamadani, who spared no fury toward Trump and Gotham\u2019s Democratic establishment but always with charm. He modulated his aggressive style after taking office, recently standing beside Trump at the White House with folded hands and a tight smile to seek the release of a Columbia University student<\/a> detained by ICE and support for a massive affordable housing project that intrigued the president, a former developer. Mamdani, beloved by progressives, effectively gives tacit permission to candidates like Talarico to reach beyond the base and go straight to MAGA voters without compromising their own bona fides. Now, Talerico may have that effect on other Democrats as well.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom nearly the moment they lost the last presidential race, Democrats have been debating whether their best way forward was to emulate President Trump or counter him,\u201d Lisa Lerer wrote for The New York Times. In this case, it seems Democrats have soured on emulation, especially as establishment Democrats like Gavin Newsom co-opt Trump\u2019s use<\/a> of all-caps tweets and AI-generated images for cheap hits on social media.<\/p>\n Indeed, Talarico\u2019s victory rally triggered an Obama-era \u201cOne America\u201d memory for some. \u201cTonight, the people of our state gave this country a little bit of hope, and a little bit of hope is a dangerous thing,\u201d Talarico told supporters Tuesday night, seemingly nodding to Obama\u2019s \u201cAudacity of Hope\u201d campaign that won him every major Texas city besides El Paso<\/a> in the 2008 Texas Democratic primary.\u00a0<\/p>\n Indeed, the 44th president praised Talarico in a podcast interview with Marc Maron in October, a few weeks before Crockett entered the race. \u201cHe\u2019s terrific. Really talented young man,\u201d Obama said on the show. \u201cHis starting point is, \u2018Let me say what I believe.\u2019 Now, more than ever, what people long for is some core integrity that seems absent. Just a sense that the person seems to walk the walk.\u201d Obama, though, stayed neutral in the race.<\/p>\n Talarico\u2019s supporters at the election night shindig repeatedly cited the 36-year-old\u2019s authenticity and character as key reasons for voting for him. Grinning under bright blue stage lights and surrounded by a lively crowd at Emo\u2019s Austin, Talarico supporter Josh Levine told me that he came of age in politics in 2008, watching an Obama rally. Twenty years old at the time, he had been volunteering for a different candidate, but once he saw the senator speak, he switched allegiances.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a big believer that politicians should speak more about values than fighting head-to-head,\u201d Levine, now 38 and an AI developer, told me. \u201cTexas has its own culture. Everyone is extremely independent, open, and caring. People are looking to be inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n Talarico\u2019s particular brand of optimism is grounded in a back-to-basics appeal to faith. A Presbyterian seminarian, he often references his faith on the campaign trail. Even among Texans who fall outside of the 67 percent who identify as Christians<\/a>, Talarico\u2019s Christian faith seems to inspire trust.<\/p>\n Shaan Davis, a 27-year-old campaign volunteer, said he liked Talarico\u2019s faith-based message even though he is \u201cnot really\u201d faithful himself, adding that the Austin-based legislator\u2019s commitment to clean campaign finances signaled integrity. After losing his tech consulting job a month ago, Davis said politics has become more personal for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI lost my job\u2026I need affordable healthcare. That\u2019s personal to me. I am a child of an immigrant. That\u2019s very personal to me,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n Chad Ayers, a campaign volunteer who lives in Georgetown, Texas, said he left the Catholic church. However, he said he still relates to Talarico\u2019s faith, noting that the party\u2019s supporters held black-and-white signs reading \u201cLove Thy Neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s very relatable to a lot of people,\u201d Ayers said. \u201cHe leads with love, but with a call to action to use that love for good.\u201d<\/p>\n When Talarico addressed supporters at the party, Ayers stood behind him onstage, grinning alongside other volunteers and team members in colorful clothes and sparkly western garb, holding \u201cTake Back Texas\u201d signs and waving miniature Lone Star State flags. Over the speaker, a mix of Bad Bunny and country played as Talarico shook hands. The scene reminded me that the \u201cbig tent\u201d argument pushed by establishment Democrats like Ken Martin, the party chair, after the 2024 election loss, can be more than consultant-speak. Talarico proved that by courting independents, Republicans, and first-time voters.<\/p>\n Kennedy Quintanilla, a 17-year-old high school senior in Austin, stayed at the event with her parents until late into the night, saying that Talarico\u2019s campaign made her excited to vote for the first time, a rare perspective, perhaps, in an era when youth report disillusionment and distrust<\/a> in national leadership at high levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTalarico can appeal to people on all sides with all different values,\u201d Quaintanilla said. \u201cI hope that we have more participation and more people voicing their opinions in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n The record-level turnout on Tuesday represented a kind of hope that Texas Democrats had long craved. Texans have mourned tragedy after tragedy over the past year. July 4 flooding in the Hill Country\u2014and a delayed FEMA response\u2014left more than 130 people dead<\/a>, including 27 young girls at Camp Mystic. Six people died in the immigration detention<\/a> centers in Texas in the last six weeks, and thousands more remain imprisoned. And just days before the election, three people were killed and over a dozen were injured in a mass shooting<\/a> at a bar just three miles across the river from where Talarico declared victory Wednesday night.<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica is praying for Austin,\u201d Talarico wrote on X shortly after the news broke. \u201cBut there is something profoundly cynical about asking God to solve a problem we\u2019re not willing to solve ourselves. God moves and works through us. God has no other hands but our hands.\u201d<\/p>\n Talarico\u2019s approach to tragedy marks a departure from fellow Texan, Beto O\u2019Rourke, who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in Texas in 2018 and governor in 2022. During his gubernatorial bid, in the aftermath of the devastating Uvalde school shooting, O\u2019Rourke interrupted<\/a> Governor Greg Abbott\u2019s press conference to demand stricter gun control laws. At the time, progressives were impressed by O\u2019Rourke\u2019s act of moral righteousness, but blowback from the right came instantly. \u201cYou sick son of a bitch, I can\u2019t believe you would come to a deal like this to make it a political issue,\u201d said an incredulous Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin. O\u2019Rourke\u2019s weak standing in the polls didn\u2019t budge, and Abbott coasted to an 11-point victory.<\/p>\n Talarico\u2019s approach is less combative but laser-focused on finding solutions to the violence facing innocent Texans. This year, in the face of such heaviness, Texas Democrats chose the politics of hope.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing is clear today: we are about to take back Texas,\u201d Talarico told supporters at a victory party in Austin Wednesday night. \u201cWe\u2019re done being divided. We\u2019re done being played. We\u2019re done being pitted against each other. That old politics is dying, and a new politics is being born.\u201d<\/p>\n The closest Texas Democrats have come to winning a statewide office in a generation was in the 2018 U.S. Senate election, when O\u2019Rourke lost to incumbent Ted Cruz by 2.6 points. Now, eight years later, Democrats are cautiously optimistic. Hope, it seems, is audacious.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n
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