James Talarico

James Talarico
Talarico in 2025
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office January 10, 2023
Preceded by	Celia Israel
Constituency	50th district
In office November 19, 2018 – January 10, 2023
Preceded by	Larry Gonzales
Succeeded by	Caroline Harris (redistricted)
Constituency	52nd district
Personal details
Born	James Dell Talarico (1989-05-17) May 17, 1989 (age 36) Round Rock, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	University of Texas, Austin (BA) Harvard University (Ed.M) Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (MDiv)
Signature

James Dell Talarico (born May 17, 1989) is an American politician, pastor and former teacher.^[1] He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2018 to represent district 52, which includes the cities of Round Rock, Taylor, Hutto, and Georgetown in Williamson County. Following the 2020 redistricting cycle, Talarico announced his run for a seat in District 50 in 2022, which he won. He is a member of the Democratic Party and has been called a rising force among Texas Democrats.^[2][3][4][5]

Talarico currently serves on the Texas House of Representatives' Public Education Committee, Calendars Committee, and Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee.^[6]

Talarico was born at Round Rock Hospital in Williamson County, Texas, to Tamara Causey, a single mother.^[7] He was later adopted by Mark Talarico. He has a younger sister. He attended Round Rock ISD schools and graduated from McNeil High School in Williamson County.

His grandfather was a Baptist preacher in South Texas who he says taught him that Christianity is a simple — though not easy — religion, rooted in two commandments: "love God and love your neighbor".^[2]

Talarico earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin,^[8] where he organized students for tuition relief.^[9] Talarico was a member of the Friar Society, the University of Texas's oldest honor society.^[10] He later earned a Master of Education degree in education policy from Harvard University.^[11]

In August 2022, while a member of the Texas House of Representatives, Talarico began pursuing a Master of Divinity at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, which he is set to complete in 2025.^[12]

In 2011, Talarico joined Teach For America, teaching sixth grade English language arts at Rhodes Middle School on the west side of San Antonio.^[13] After two years in the classroom, Talarico became the Central Texas executive director for Reasoning Mind, a Texas nonprofit focusing on bringing technology to low-income classrooms.^{[citation needed]}

Talarico launched his campaign for the Texas House shortly after incumbent state legislator Larry Gonzales announced his retirement. At 28, Talarico won both the special and general elections against Republican Cynthia Flores in 2018,^[14] garnering media attention for walking the full length of the district.^[15]

Talarico was sworn into the Texas House of Representatives on November 20, 2018. He was appointed to the Public Education and Juvenile Justice Committees. As of 2019, he was the youngest member of the Texas Legislature.^[16]

In the 86th Texas Legislature, he filed the Whole Student Agenda,^[13] a legislative package with bills addressing public education policy. As a member of the Public Education Committee, he helped draft House Bill 3, which contained $11.6 billion in funds for school finance and property tax reform.^[17]

During Talarico's first term, a recording of Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen was leaked by Michael Quinn Sullivan of the conservative advocacy group Empower Texans. In it, Bonnen claimed he had recruited a challenger for "that Talarico kid."^[18]

Talarico won re-election against former Hutto City Councilmember Lucio Valdez with 51.5 percent of the vote.^[19] For the 87th Legislative Session, he was reappointed to the Public Education and Juvenile Justice Committees and appointed to the Calendars committee.^[20]

During the 87th legislative session, he filed Javier Ambler's Law, demanding an end to police contracts with reality TV shows,^[21] in response to the role Live PD is alleged to have played in the killing of Javier Ambler by Williamson County police. He had previously criticized Sheriff Robert Chody's handling of the incident, calling for his resignation.^[22]

Talarico was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes during a five-day stint in the ICU after a 2018 campaign event where he walked 25 miles across his district. After his diagnoses, he discovered that insulin can cost around $700 per month for Americans. He supported the passage of a bill that capped insulin prices at $25 per month.^[23][24]

At the end of the legislative session, he was named one of the Top 10 Best Legislators by Texas Monthly magazine.^[25]

After his district was made significantly more Republican during the 2020 redistricting process, Talarico announced that he would run in the neighboring House District 50, a safe Democratic seat being vacated by Rep. Celia Israel.^[26][27][28] His previous district was a swing district.^[5]

He won the primary election with 78.5 percent of the vote and won the general election with 76.8 percent of the vote.^[29]

During the 88th legislative session, he supported House Bill 25, which would create the Texas Wholesale Prescription Drug Importation Program and allow Texas to import lower-cost Canadian medications that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.^[30]

Talarico was an outspoken critic of SB 1515 on the constitutional grounds of separation of church and state, which sought to have the Ten Commandments displayed in a "conspicuous place" in elementary and secondary classrooms.^[31] The bill was declared dead in May 2023.^[32]

Talarico defeated Nathan Boynton in the Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election. In 2025, he gained further prominence after videos featuring Talarico arguing against a bill that would place the Ten Commandments in Texas public schools led to an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience.^[33] He has publicly expressed interest in running for the U.S. Senate in 2026.^[34]

Talarico is a "deeply religious" Christian, and was raised Presbyterian.^[3][12] He is active in St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin.^[35]

He is an outspoken critic of Christian nationalism and has called it "a cancer on our religion."^[36] He has cited his faith and the teachings of Jesus, especially the commandment to love one's God and neighbor, as the reason for launching his political career. He describes politics as "another word for how we treat our neighbors."^[2]

• James Talarico – Texas House website
• James Talarico – Campaign website