James Talarico (D)

Talarico's tax plan splits into two distinct strands. On closing loopholes, he would end the carried-interest loophole, roll back tax breaks that let large corporations pay $0 in federal tax, end 'buy, borrow, die' step-up-basis loopholes, and eliminate the Social Security tax cap above $400K. On new rate hikes and new taxes, he would raise the corporate tax rate, raise capital-gains taxes on billionaires, raise the tax on corporate stock buybacks, and add a special tax on corporations paying executives more than 250x their median worker's salary; he has called publicly for taxing 'trillionaires out of existence.' On tax cuts, he would expand the Child Tax Credit and EITC for working families and small businesses, and repeal the Trump tariffs.

Talarico led the Texas House fight against Abbott's voucher program and his colleagues selected him to lead that opposition. His Senate priorities include rejecting 'voucher scams being pushed by billionaire mega-donors that defund public schools to subsidize private education for the wealthiest Americans.' He wants universal Pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds, expanded Head Start, the Teacher Quality Partnership and TEACH grants, and protection of federal special-education oversight. In Austin he helped invest $6.5B into public schools for teacher pay, literacy and math initiatives, and capped Pre-K class sizes at 22 students. He has personally targeted billionaires Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks, and Betsy DeVos as the financial backers of the voucher movement.

Talarico wants to 'guarantee large energy users like data centers fund the infrastructure improvements they need rather than passing those costs on to consumers.' He proposes mandatory algorithmic bias and privacy impact assessments for social media platforms, prohibitions on algorithms targeting minors, and reining in broad Section 230-style immunity. He would protect workers from AI surveillance, guarantee human review for automated hiring/firing decisions, and require AI companies to follow existing copyright law. He supports stronger export controls on advanced AI chips to keep them out of adversaries' hands and federal grants for digital-literacy programs. In Austin he authored Texas's deepfake-protection bill, the AI-political-ad regulation, and helped establish the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium.

Talarico's first Senate priority is an anti-corruption package: ban super PACs and corporate PACs, ban partisan gerrymandering with independent redistricting commissions, and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. He would ban congressional stock trading, impose term limits (6 House terms / 2 Senate terms), require annual town halls, and ban presidential pardons. He proposes Supreme Court term limits and a binding code of conduct with recusal rules, financial disclosure requirements, and gift limits. He has refused all corporate PAC money since his 2017 first race and broke quorum twice in the Texas House over partisan redistricting. He voted to impeach Paxton in 2023, calling it 'this may be the most consequential vote I'll cast as a member of the Texas Legislature.'

Talarico's signature proposal is a Medicare buy-in open to every American at any age as a not-for-profit public option competing with private insurance. He would restore the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, save rural hospitals through better Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement, regulate PBMs, reform prior authorization, and ban medical debt on credit reports. He would codify Roe v. Wade, protect contraception and IVF, and oppose VA privatization while expanding veterans' mental health services. In Austin he capped insulin co-pays at $25/month after his own diabetic-ketoacidosis diagnosis (a $684 first prescription), passed Canadian drug-import legislation, and used a procedural point of order to kill a bill that would have cut Medicaid coverage. He has framed Republican healthcare cuts as 'a moral crime' that will cause '51,000 Americans to die needlessly.'

Talarico is a Presbyterian seminarian (Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary) studying to become a pastor. He calls himself 'a vocal critic of Christian nationalism' and 'the most vocal defender of the separation of church and state' in the Texas House. He opposes Ten Commandments mandates in classrooms, school chaplain laws, and Bible-infused public curricula, saying forcing the Commandments 'violates the most important commandment: love thy neighbor.' He has said 'the only thing worse than a tyrant is a tyrant who thinks they're on a mission from God.' He would pass the federal Do No Harm Act to prevent religious discrimination and reject policies forcing religion into neutral public spaces.

Talarico would raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour and pass federal paid family leave legislation. He wants universal affordable child care, expanded antitrust enforcement against corporate landlords and grocery consolidation, and a federal task force on modular housing construction. He would ban Wall Street firms from buying up single-family housing stock, expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, and modernize LIHEAP. He would repeal Trump tariffs, calling them the reason 'our cattle ranchers and farmers are filing record bankruptcies while Trump bails out Argentina's beef industry.' On crypto he supports clear consumer-protection rules so 'crypto companies play by the same rules as everyone else.'

Talarico has a published Labor & Business plank: tax credits and subsidies to help small- and medium-sized businesses adapt to a $15 minimum wage without cutting jobs, expanded SBA loan eligibility, broader Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), and tariff repeal. He is Vice Chair of the Texas House Committee on Trade, Workforce, and Economic Development. He frames closing corporate $0-tax loopholes as 'evening the playing field' so 'more entrepreneurs make their dreams a reality.' He would support state-level equity investment programs and technical-assistance grants for small businesses. In Texas he voted to increase the business personal property tax exemption and reduce licensing/regulation fees for businesses in their first year of operation.

Talarico has a published Labor & Business plank: tax credits and subsidies to help small- and medium-sized businesses adapt to a $15 minimum wage without cutting jobs, expanded SBA loan eligibility, broader Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), and tariff repeal. He is Vice Chair of the Texas House Committee on Trade, Workforce, and Economic Development. He frames closing corporate $0-tax loopholes as 'evening the playing field' so 'more entrepreneurs make their dreams a reality.' He would support state-level equity investment programs and technical-assistance grants for small businesses. In Texas he voted to increase the business personal property tax exemption and reduce licensing/regulation fees for businesses in their first year of operation.

Talarico frames border policy as 'our front porch — welcome mat out front and a lock on the door,' saying these are not mutually exclusive values. He would pass comprehensive immigration reform creating a path to citizenship for long-term residents, spouses of citizens, and DREAMers, with temporary work permits for recent arrivals. He would refocus ICE resources on traffickers, gang members, and human traffickers — 'not our neighbors who contribute to our communities, pay taxes, and pose no threat to our safety.' He would ban ICE agents from wearing masks or refusing to show identification and hold them accountable for abuses. He would hire more immigration judges, modernize port-of-entry security, and open a Senate district office in El Paso (the first since Phil Gramm retired in 2001).

Talarico would legalize regulated marijuana for adults, expunge past convictions, and use tax revenue for substance-abuse treatment and public-safety programs. He filed HB 4089 in 2021 and HB 5307 in 2025 to legalize adult use (up to 2.5 oz possession, 6 home-grown plants, 12 per household). He was the most visible opponent of Texas's 2025 SB 3 THC ban, calling it 'insane' and 'a gift to the cartels.' On Joe Rogan's podcast he accused Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of holding a flood-emergency bill hostage to pass the THC ban. He has framed legalization as 'part of ending the racist war on drugs' that has targeted Black and brown Americans.

Talarico frames his position as 'protect the Second Amendment while protecting our neighbors from gun violence.' He supports universal background checks, secure storage requirements around children, prosecution of firearms traffickers, and raising the purchase age to 21 for semi-automatic rifles with high-capacity magazines. He opposed Texas's permitless ('constitutional') carry law and co-authored HB 220 (handgun sale restrictions) and HB 22 (multiple-purchase reporting) in 2023. His most viral gun-policy moment came on the House floor days after the 2023 Allen mall shooting, confronting Republicans on HB 2960. His Texas record includes increasing penalties for mass shooting perpetrators and requiring Narcan on every public school campus.

Talarico would let every American join Medicare regardless of age as an affordable not-for-profit public option. He would protect Social Security from cuts and eliminate the tax cap above $400K, expand the Older Americans Act for home- and community-based eldercare, and develop a high-quality elder-care workforce. He would save rural hospitals through better Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement, regulate PBMs and prior authorization, and ban medical debt on credit reports. He opposes VA privatization and would expand veterans' mental health services. In Texas he capped insulin co-pays at $25/month, authored the Canadian drug-import law, established a prescription drug savings program for uninsured Texans, and voted for the 'thirteenth check' supplemental retirement payment for retired teachers.

Talarico would 'protect the legality of gay marriage and defend our LGBTQ+ neighbors from government overreach.' He would restore reproductive freedom by codifying Roe v. Wade and protect access to contraception and IVF federally. He used a procedural point of order on the Texas House floor to kill a statewide book ban that would have removed classics like Lonesome Dove and The Catcher in the Rye. He frames these as 'freedom' issues: 'you can't stand for freedom and control what we say, what we read, and what we do with our own bodies.' He opposes cancel culture 'whether it's from the left or the right' and explicitly defended Jimmy Kimmel after his September 2025 firing.

Talarico wants to 'restore America's standing as a global leader and build strong trade agreements with our allies.' He has framed Texas as the top exporting state and 'hit the hardest by Trump's unlawful tariffs.' He supports strong AI-chip export controls to keep advanced technology out of adversaries' hands. He opposes VA privatization and has held veterans' roundtables in El Paso to focus on mental health, substance abuse, and PTSD alternative therapies. His foreign-policy framing emphasizes diplomacy and alliance-restoration over unilateralism.