{"id":426101,"date":"2026-09-04T13:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/426101\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T13:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:26:11","slug":"james-talaricos-25-million-black-voter-outreach-plan-for-the-texas-senate-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/426101\/","title":{"rendered":"James Talarico’s $25 Million Black Voter Outreach Plan for the Texas Senate Race"},"content":{"rendered":"

With less than 60 days until Election Day, Talarico for Texas is rolling out a new cross-generational Black engagement team. The question isn\u2019t whether the campaign will show up \u2014 it\u2019s whether they are showing up too late.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too long, the Democratic Party has taken Black voters for granted \u2014 these investments show we\u2019re not going to make that same mistake,\u201d said James Talarico, U.S. Senate Nominee (D-TX). \u201cWe\u2019ve brought on some of the most-decorated operatives in Texas politics to lead this voter outreach effort because there is no way to win Texas without listening to, investing in, and showing up for Black Texans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three veteran Black political operatives are joining the campaign as senior advisors to lead these efforts: Aisha J. McClendon, Delilah Agho-Otoghile and Cliff Walker.<\/p>\n

Three Black-owned firms will lead the paid communications program: Bill Burton, former Obama White House deputy press secretary and founder of Bryson Gillette, will lead on TV and digital; Beto O\u2019Rourke for Governor alumna Judy Foston Stanford, president of Foston International Communications of Richmond, Texas, will lead on radio; and Christian Menefee for Congress alumna Linda K. Brown, founder of Advantage Communications Group of Houston, Texas, will lead on print.<\/p>\n

Earlier this summer at a Houston town hall, Talarico reportedly pledged to spend $25 million on Black voter outreach, which he said was the largest such investment in modern Texas history.<\/p>\n

Sources say the team \u2014 many with ties to Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis \u2014 is stacked with talent in Dallas, Houston and Austin. But that metro-heavy bench leaves voter-rich Beaumont, Nacogdoches and Tyler waiting for their turn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent my career working to energize Black voters across the country, and I know this team has what it takes to get the job done,\u201d said former DNC Chair Donna Brazile. \u201cJames Talarico understands that winning in Texas requires major investment in Black engagement statewide. That\u2019s why he\u2019s built a team capable of driving massive Black turnout and the coalition needed to take back Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the timing raises a harder question. A federal appeals court last month overturned<\/a> a ruling that had blocked key parts of Texas\u2019 sweeping voter suppression law<\/a>, reviving restrictions on mail-in voting and voter assistance just as the campaign leans on outreach. A 2025 Brennan Center working paper<\/a> found that \u201cvoters whose mail ballots were rejected in the primary were markedly less likely to vote afterward \u2014 and those who did often abandoned mail voting altogether.\u201d That kind of drop-off takes sustained investment to reverse, at the exact moment the legal ground is shifting under it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important for donors to appreciate the fact that no one can talk to Black voters better than Black folks who run organizations to talk to Black voters,\u201d said Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, on a recent panel organized by America Votes discussing Black civic engagement headwinds. \u201cInternally we have to be honest about our metrics and our impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talarico\u2019s campaign is calling the effort the largest Black voter outreach plan of its kind in modern Texas history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe investment includes our team of experienced Black staff members from every corner of Texas \u2014 door-knocking, relational organizing and in-person community events in Black neighborhoods statewide,\u201d said JT Ennis, Talarico campaign spokesperson. \u201cPaid ads from Black-owned media firms will reach Black Texans on TV, radio, phones and in their mailboxes, alongside deeper engagement with Black churches, community organizations and HBCUs.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is still unclear how this outreach effort squares with Rep. Jasmine Crockett\u2019s<\/a> (D-Texas) recent focus on \u201ccampaigning down ballot\u201d \u2014 a stance that suggests she won\u2019t be hitting the trail with Talarico after he defeated her in the Democratic Senate primary.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur investment in Black voters will be built by Black professionals who know Black communities best,\u201d said Talarico for Texas Political and Coalitions Director Miriam Laeky. \u201cTexas has the highest population of Black folks in the country, and we will continue to put in the work to bring them to the polls.\u201d<\/p>\n

The campaign says more is coming \u2014 expanded faith outreach, youth engagement and organizing efforts through the Texas Together Coordinated Campaign. Whether it\u2019s enough, and whether it\u2019s in time, is a question only Black Texans can answer on election day.<\/p>\n

Straight From \"The<\/p>\n

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