Democrat Texas Senate candidate James Talarico flip-flopped on numerous issues from border security to his beliefs about God during a CNN town hall Wednesday as he continues to run from his radical past.
Hoping to become the first Democrat to win statewide in Texas in decades, Talarico has reversed course on numerous positions he took during his time in the state legislature, where he now represents deep-blue Austin. Polls show a surprisingly close race between Talarico and Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton as Democrats seek to capitalize on a difficult political environment for Republicans.
“I am not running for the U.S. Senate to represent New York or California. I’m not running for the U.S. Senate to represent the Democratic Party,” Talarico claimed during the town hall. “I am running for Senate to represent all 31 million Texans, and I will always do what’s best for Texas.”
Despite those reassurances to Texas voters, Talarico’s record as a state legislator closely matches that of a California or New York Democrat.
Oil And Gas
Talarico claimed Wednesday that he would oppose efforts within the Democrat Party to crack down on the oil and gas industry, a marked shift from his previous comments made to environmental groups.
“I will stand up to my own party if they mess with our oil and gas industry, and I will stand up to the other party if they mess with renewables,” he said. “If the Democratic Party is going after the good-paying oil and gas jobs here in Texas, I’m going to stand up against them.”
However, during a 2020 Zoom meeting with the Sierra Club, Talarico took shots at the oil and gas industry, saying it “is not gonna last” and comparing it to making cassette tapes in the 1980s. Talarico also introduced a bill in the legislature to accelerate the so-called “green transition” away from fossil fuels.
Voter ID
Talarico purported to support “fair voter ID” during the town hall.
“I am for fair voter ID. And I say fair, because here in Texas, I think that a lot of our voter ID policies are discriminatory,” he said. “As long as voter ID is fair, then I’m all for it.”
The Texas Democrat argued it was unfair that college kids couldn’t use a university-issued student ID to vote when a state-issued concealed carry permit was an acceptable form of ID. His support for “fair voter ID” contradicts his own public comments in which he said he opposed voter ID.
“I oppose having to have a driver’s license to vote,” he said back in July 2021 while leading the charge against an election integrity bill. “I oppose voter ID. Currently it’s the law in Texas, but I opposed that law … There are a lot of Texans, currently hundreds of thousands, who don’t have a driver’s license.”
To get a Texas driver’s license, a person must complete an application form, provide proof of citizenship or legal residency and proof of Texas residency, and pass written and driving exams.
Transgender Surgeries For Kids
Another issue Talarico has shifted his views on is the debate over transgender procedures on kids. On Wednesday, the Democrat Senate nominee claimed that he would support a national ban on transgender surgeries for kids.
However, when given the opportunity in the Texas legislature in 2023, he voted against a proposal that protected minors from transgender surgeries and cross-sex hormone procedures. An undercover video reported on by The Daily Wire last month showed Talarico saying that “the way I fought for trans kids in the legislature is how I will fight for them in the U.S. Senate” and that “my position hasn’t changed.”
Christian Views
The Texas Democrat, who has made Christianity a large part of his appeal to voters, also backtracked on comments he made about God being “non-binary.”
“When I said that I was being provocative, and I want to admit that and come clean about that, but I think what I was saying is actually not controversial theologically: the idea that we can’t define God using human categories,” he said. “I was doing it maybe in an annoying way. I could admit that.”
Talarico has long attended a liberal church in Austin where his pastor pushes leftist politics and denies the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Border Policy
“I’m going to call out Democrats like Joe Biden who failed us on our southern border because we need border security here in Texas. We need to protect our border communities,” Talarico claimed on Wednesday.
While he now purports to be a “border security” Democrat, Talarico once accused Republicans of committing atrocities for taking action to close former President Joe Biden’s porous border. Instead of calling out former President Joe Biden for not securing the border, he actually attacked Biden for not doing enough to combat Republicans pushing for border security.
“I hope Joe Biden will do the right thing and act on behalf of everyone in the state and around the country who’s horrified at what they’re seeing on our southern border,” Talarico said in July 2023 as tens of thousands of illegal immigrants poured over the border. “So I think Joe Biden, his administration, [and] federal lawmakers have a moral responsibility to step in and prevent these human rights abuses that are happening in our name.”
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