<\/p>\n
Democratic U.S. Congressional candidate James Talarico addresses supporters at Kingdom Builders Center in Houston on Sunday, July 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Conley\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Democratic U.S. Congressional candidate James Talarico addresses supporters at Kingdom Builders Center in Houston on Sunday, July 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Conley\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Democratic U.S. Congressional candidate James Talarico addresses supporters at Kingdom Builders Center in Houston on Sunday, July 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Conley\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Democratic U.S. Congressional candidate James Talarico addresses supporters at Kingdom Builders Center in Houston on Sunday, July 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Conley\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Democratic U.S. Congressional candidate James Talarico addresses supporters at Kingdom Builders Center in Houston on Sunday, July 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Conley\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Democratic U.S. Congressional candidate James Talarico addresses supporters at Kingdom Builders Center in Houston on Sunday, July 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Conley\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
State Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. senator from Texas<\/a>, was about to answer the final question of a town hall in southwest Houston on Sunday when 50-year-old Kandice Webber stood up.<\/p>\n “Our people don’t trust you for this reason,” said Webber, who is Black, after the crowd quieted to listen. “And you cannot win without us. So you stay here, you answer our questions, or you suffer the consequences.”<\/p>\n Talarico turned his attention to her and attempted to cool the tension:\u00a0“I appreciate you being here, and I appreciate you traveling in and I appreciate you\u2014”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “I came for my people, not for you,” she said.<\/p>\n “It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright,” Talarico said. “This is what this conversation is supposed to be about.”<\/p>\n He turned to answer more questions and push the event longer, but Webber stayed standing, visibly disappointed.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n She hadn’t asked her question and wanted to hear\u00a0Talarico address her concerns about Teach for America’s effect on public education funding. Talarico formerly taught at a public San Antonio middle school through Teach for America and has characterized public education as a core driver of his political career.<\/p>\n The moment underscored the passion and a keen sense of urgency inside a packed room at the Kingdom Builders Center, where hundreds of prospective voters turned out to listen to Talarico on Sunday afternoon. Talarico is in a tight race, if recent polls are correct, with Republican Texas Attorney General Ken\u00a0Paxton \u2014 a race in which Talarico wants to be the first Democrat elected to statewide Texas office in more than 30\u00a0years.<\/p>\n CAMPAIGN CASH:\u00a0Why Talarico’s fundraising dominance isn’t so insurmountable for Paxton<\/a><\/p>\n The room greeted him with a standing ovation full of cheers after introductions from U.S. Rep. Christian\u00a0Menefee, State Rep. Lauren Ashley Simmons and Houston City Council Member Martha Castex-Tatum. The crowd chanted “Take back Texas” as they hoisted campaign signs.<\/p>\n Talarico fielded questions about preserving voter rights, protecting Black farmers, supporting Black candidates\u00a0and standing up for key issues in the U.S. Senate, from public education funding to diversity, equity and inclusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n One voter said\u00a0Talarico won him over after a recent Zoom session. Another said defeating\u00a0Paxton was not an “if” but a “when.” Others challenged Talarico’s leadership abilities and relayed relayed skepticism about the lengths to which he’s sought out Black community members.<\/p>\n “On Day 1, will you be ready to flip tables like Jesus did in the synagogue?” U.S. Army veteran Donald Sparks asked.<\/p>\n The Black community will be pivotal for\u00a0Talarico, who lost 8 of 10 Black votes in Houston and Dallas<\/a> in his March primary win over U.S. Rep. Jasmine\u00a0Crockett. He has stressed his commitment to Black voters along the campaign trail, visiting Prairie View A&M University; delivering a commencement address at Paul Quinn College, a historically Black college in Dallas; and visiting Mikki’s Soul Food Cafe<\/a> in Houston’s Third Ward.<\/p>\n On Sunday, he committed $25 million to Black voter outreach, which he claimed was the largest such investment in Texas’ modern political history. He told the audience that neither he nor his campaign is perfect, but he appealed for their trust as his race for the U.S. Senate heats up.<\/p>\n “We are going to win this race in November,” Talarico said. “But there is no way to win Texas without showing up for, investing in and listening to Black communities across this state.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Houstonian Elene Gilliard, 64, voted for Crockett in March but said she hoped that Talarico can power Democrats\u2019 agenda in the U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n She said she hoped that he could push back against corruption, war spending and a higher cost of living if elected to the U.S. Senate in November.<\/p>\n “That’s our only hope,” she said. “That’s what we got right now, right? That’s what we have so, yeah \u2014 we have to put our support behind him.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Democratic U.S. Congressional candidate James Talarico addresses supporters at Kingdom Builders Center in Houston on Sunday, July 19,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-379150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379150","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=379150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}