{"id":290452,"date":"2026-05-13T01:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T01:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/290452\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T01:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T01:43:08","slug":"obama-uses-star-power-to-boost-talarico-in-texas-senate-race-but-will-black-voters-be-swayed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/290452\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama uses star power to boost Talarico in Texas Senate race. But will Black voters be swayed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former President Barack Obama <\/a>traveled to Texas to boost the campaign of James Talarico<\/a>, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, who is facing a contentious election this November that will determine control of Congress in 2027. <\/p>\n

America\u2019s first Black president visited a local Austin restaurant with Talarico and another Democratic nominee, Gina Hinojosa, who is running for Texas governor. Short of an official endorsement, Obama joined Talarico and Hinojosa in greeting patrons at Taco Joint. <\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know our outstanding next governor and senator?\u201d Obama said to star-struck customers as he introduced himself, table to table, according to the New York Times<\/a>. After posing for photos and ordering tacos to go, the 44th President of the United States urged the Texas voters, \u201cRemember to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the Tuesday drop-in, President Obama shared pictures on social media, writing<\/a>, \u201cIt was great joining @JamesTalarico and @GinaHinojosaTX today in Texas. They\u2019re working hard to make a difference in the lives of all Texans, and will be able to do even more as your next Senator and Governor. Let\u2019s get it done, Texas!\u201d<\/p>\n

Obama\u2019s campaigning for Talarico and Hinojosa continues a strong effort to boost Democrats nationwide in this year\u2019s midterm elections. The midterms on Nov. 3 will mark voters\u2019 first time casting ballots in nationwide federal elections since President Donald Trump was re-elected to the White House. As Trump\u2019s public approval ratings tank and prices continue to rise, Democrats hope to succeed by energizing their base and winning over disgruntled Republicans.<\/p>\n

In Texas, 36-year-old Talarico is hoping to flip the U.S. Senate seat for Democrats for the first time in more than 30 years. However, the Texas state representative, who defeated popular U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett<\/a> in the March Democratic primary, is finding it challenging to court Black voters, who overwhelmingly supported Crockett over him. <\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Obama is always going to be a hero and revered amongst the African American community. I think his opinion definitely still holds weight,\u201d said Zoe Cadore, a Houston-based political consultant and former Texas congressional candidate. <\/p>\n

\"\"AUSTIN, TEXAS \u2013 MAY 12: Texas Senate candidate James Talarico (D-TX), Texas gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa (D-TX) and Former President Barack Obama meet patrons at the restaurant Taco Joint on the campaign trail on May 12, 2026 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Joel Angel Juarez-Pool\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

She told theGrio, \u201cI think it\u2019s a great showing that he is putting his support behind James Talarico so early, especially given all of the critiques around Talarico\u2019s campaign and the lack of support that he had from African-American voters, and frankly, the lack of outreach that a lot of the Black voting population felt he did in the primary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cadore acknowledged that Talarico has been \u201ctrying\u201d in his outreach to Black Texans, like campaigning at Black churches and delivering the commencement speech at Paul Quinn College, an HBCU in Dallas. <\/p>\n

The Texas Democrat said that while she understands some of the sentiments of Black voters who have criticized Talarico\u2019s campaign, Talarico did \u201cwhat needed to be done to win the primary.\u201d Crockett, she pointed out, was going to get a lion\u2019s share of the Black vote, so he instead, \u201cbuilt his coalition among white liberals, Latinos, and then maybe a scattered group of African Americans that existed in rural communities or in places like in Austin.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Obama\u2019s star power is needed in the Texas Senate race, Cadore told theGrio that America\u2019s first Black president is most needed in cities with larger Black populations like Houston or Dallas, where support for Talarico remains tested.<\/p>\n

Cadore explained that many Black voters feel Talarico didn\u2019t try to earn their vote in the primary and, therefore, is \u201cnot worthy\u201d of their vote or has to \u201cwork extra\u201d to earn their support in November. <\/p>\n

\"James(Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cI find this stance to be a little short-sighted,\u201d she told theGrio. \u201cIf our goal is to flip Texas, the only thing we need to be focused on right now is galvanizing as many voters as possible to come out for him in November.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there very much still is a race issue in democratic politics here in Texas, I do think we have to tackle that issue later; right now, the focus is flipping Texas,\u201d she added. \u201cIf we spend too much time focused on the race issue, and if he approached enough Black voters in the primary or not, we\u2019re going to miss the big picture, which is getting him over the finish line in November.\u201d<\/p>\n

As theGrio previously reported exclusively on Mother\u2019s Day, Talarico sought to message to Black voters with the unveiling of a plan to address the maternal mortality, specifically calling out the disproportionate number of Black women dying during childbirth or from pregnancy-related issues.<\/p>\n

In a statement to theGrio, Talarico said, \u201cIn the Texas Legislature, I led the fight against racist redistricting maps and private school voucher scams rooted in school segregation. I secured major criminal justice reforms, banned reality TV policing, and passed legislation to lower the cost of childcare, housing, and prescription drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the Texas lawmaker said, \u201cThere\u2019s so much more work to do,\u201d adding, \u201cFor far too long, Black communities have been overlooked, undervalued, and taken for granted by both parties in this broken, corrupt political system. That\u2019s why we\u2019re centering issues like maternal health in this campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former President Barack Obama traveled to Texas to boost the campaign of James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,7536,13547,2671,27],"class_list":["post-290452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-barack-obama","tag-black-voters","tag-congress","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290452","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=290452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}