\n James Talarico speaks with attendees at a Muslim community meet-and-greet in Irving. | Photo posted by M Emad Salem\/Facebook. <\/p>\n
State Rep. James Talarico (D-District 50) courted Muslim voters at an Irving gathering<\/a> that a participant promoted with photographs and a list naming several North Texas elected officials.<\/p>\n M Emad Salem described the gathering on Facebook as a \u201cMuslim Texan community meet & greet in Irving\u201d and praised Talarico as \u201cthe next US Senator from Texas.\u201d The photographs show Talarico seated at a table with attendees.<\/p>\n Salem\u2019s post named Richardson Mayor Amir Omar, Irving City Councilman Fahad Ahmed and state Rep. Salman Bhojani (D-District 92), along with Nima Bhojani and other participants.<\/p>\n Amy Mek, founder and editor-in-chief of RAIR Foundation, highlighted the gathering and Talarico\u2019s ties to Muslim advocacy groups in an X post<\/a>.<\/p>\n North Texas officials and their records<\/p>\n Omar publicly promoted Texas American Muslim University, or TexAM, offering to connect the school with local employers, as The Dallas Express previously reported<\/a>. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) sued<\/a> the institution on May 18, alleging it offered unauthorized degrees and misled prospective students. Paxton\u2019s announcement did not name Omar as a defendant.<\/p>\n Ahmed received an endorsement<\/a> from Irving Muslims PAC in his 2026 council race. The PAC says it seeks to build an independent Muslim voting bloc. Its priorities include equal treatment for mosques and Islamic schools in city zoning and permitting, religious freedom and parents\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n A message aimed at Muslim Texans<\/p>\n In a January 2026 campaign document<\/a> addressed to Muslim Texans, Talarico described a deep connection to Islam and highlighted his work on marriage ceremonies, religious holidays and school testing accommodations.<\/p>\n He framed his approach as protecting Americans\u2019 freedom to practice different religions or no religion, and pledged to continue working with religious leaders in the Senate.<\/p>\n Muslim American political advocacy group<\/a> Emgage Action backs Talarico for U.S. Senate and Bhojani for Texas House District 92, according to its current endorsement list<\/a>.<\/p>\n Marriage legislation with Bhojani<\/p>\n Talarico filed House Bill 2039 in 2021 to change who could perform marriage ceremonies in Texas. The original version<\/a> would have added Muslim imams to a statute that explicitly named Christian ministers, priests and Jewish rabbis and also authorized officers of religious organizations.<\/p>\n The House-passed version<\/a> took a different approach: It removed the separate references to Christian clergy and Jewish rabbis and used a general provision covering anyone a religious organization authorized to conduct marriages. That language would have continued to cover Christian and Jewish officiants who met the authorization requirement.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you to the Muslim activists who helped me write House Bill 2039,\u201d Talarico wrote in a March 22, 2021, post<\/a>. He also thanked Insiya Aziz of Emgage Action for testifying. The American Muslim Bar Association\u2019s contemporaneous account<\/a> confirms that Aziz testified on Emgage Action\u2019s behalf in support of the bill.<\/p>\n The House passed the measure on April 15, 2021. It did not become law. Its legislative history<\/a> ends with referral to the Senate State Affairs Committee on April 19, 2021.<\/p>\n Talarico also joined Bhojani among the authors of House Bill 1044 in 2025, according to legislative records<\/a>. That bill<\/a> would have explicitly added Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh officiants to Texas marriage law while retaining Christian ministers, priests and Jewish rabbis. It cleared a House committee but did not become law.<\/p>\n A broader voter mobilization effort<\/p>\n The Irving gathering comes amid organized Muslim voter outreach in Texas, as The Dallas Express previously reported<\/a>. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) lists Texas among 12 priority states in its national election plan<\/a>, which calls for mosque-based registration drives, early-voting outreach and transportation to polling places. CAIR describes that program as nonpartisan and says it does not endorse candidates.<\/p>\n