{"id":266293,"date":"2026-04-25T21:41:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T21:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/266293\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T21:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T21:41:12","slug":"u-s-senate-candidate-james-talarico-makes-surprise-appearance-at-san-antonios-niosa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/266293\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico makes surprise appearance at San Antonio\u2019s NIOSA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"U.S. Senate candidiate James Talarico, D-Austin, poses for a photo with NIOSA attendees on Thursday. Credit: Michael Karlis<\/p>\n

Revelers at Night In Old San Antonio (NIOSA), one of Fiesta\u2019s best-attended events, got a surprise Thursday night when State Rep. James Talarico, Texas\u2019 Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, showed up unexpectedly.<\/p>\n

Talarico has been on something of a campaign hiatus since winning the Democratic nomination against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett this spring. His team has been awaiting the results of the May 26 Republican runoff to find out whether he\u2019ll take on U.S. Sen. John Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton in November\u2019s general election.<\/p>\n

After an exhausting primary, Talarico \u2014\u00a0who represents an Austin district but once taught school in San Antonio \u2014\u00a0said there are few better ways to spend downtime than enjoying Fiesta.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been partial to the Battle of the Flowers Parade, but I\u2019m so excited to be here tonight and looking forward to trying some of the food and meeting a lot of the folks that are here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Indeed, some NIOSA-goers were left gobsmacked to see Talarico wandering around La Villita, his shirt heavy with Fiesta medals from vendors. He shook hands and mingled with attendees, occasionally posing for photos.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s incredibly cool,\u201d NIOSA attendee Amanda Rothbauer said. \u201cI think it shows that he\u2019s relating to Texans on a Texan level. It feels like he\u2019s here to have a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n

And a good time he had.<\/p>\n

Although the former Rhodes Middle School teacher didn\u2019t get a chance to grab chicken-on-a-stick \u2014\u00a0his favorite Fiesta food \u2014\u00a0he did scarf down some beef tacos from a vendor and a pi\u00f1a agua fresca.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know he loved beef tacos,\u201d said the vendor, who didn\u2019t give his name. \u201cBut hey, that\u2019s a man of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his conversation with the Current, Talarico also revealed that his favorite breakfast taco is potato, egg, and cheese.<\/p>\n

To Talarico\u2019s surprise, Thursday was NIOSA\u2019s annual College Night. While the crowd was relatively tame compared to past years, the state rep said he was happy to meet and mingle with younger voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had so many young people who have been joining the campaign and signing up to volunteer, signing up to donate, showing up to our events, and so I think the youth vote is going to be critical in this election,\u201d Talarico said.<\/p>\n

Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>| Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n

Related Stories<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Talarico\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tPresident Trump teased endorsing U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP runoff but hasn\u2019t yet done so. \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"All\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tFiesta Fiesta, the official kickoff to San Antonio\u2019s annual citywide party, returned to Travis park on Thursday.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"John\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe Senator from Texas\u2019 \u2018Sanctuary City Elimination Act\u2019 would mandate all local, state and federal law enforcement to coordinate with ICE. \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u200b<\/p>\n

\t