Talarico tape fuels Texas Senate fight over faith, immigration

A resurfaced James Talarico interview is stirring new tension in the Texas Senate race after the Democratic candidate described his church housing an undocumented family that was close to deportation by ICE and laughed while calling Christianity a way of “causing trouble.” The clip, from a June 2023 appearance on Texas Impact’s Weekly Witness show, is now being used by Republicans to argue that Talarico’s politics are far outside the mainstream.

Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian and Texas state representative, said his faith is the reason he entered politics. In the interview, he pointed to his church’s history of activism, saying it had drawn attention in the 1990s for LGBTQ rights work, in the 2000s for allowing an atheist to join, and in the 2010s for housing “an undocumented family, a mother and son,” who he said were close to deportation by ICE. He added that Christianity is “just another word for causing trouble,” and described justice as “love out in public.”

The Texas Senate race has become a major prize for both parties, with Talarico facing Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Republicans quickly seized on the resurfaced remarks. Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft called Talarico “a dangerous man” and accused him of supporting policies that would weaken border security and help criminals. Paxton’s campaign also attacked Talarico’s record, with spokeswoman Madison Cercy arguing that his version of Christianity embraces positions most Texans would reject.

Talarico’s campaign pushed back hard. Spokesperson JT Ennis said Talarico is a Christian seminarian who has devoted his life to Jesus’ teachings and to confronting what he sees as corruption in religion and politics. Ennis said the Republican attacks are “flat out lies” and insisted Talarico supports stronger border security and immigration enforcement. He said Talarico has backed funding for law enforcement, called for more Border Patrol agents, and said violent criminals and human traffickers should be arrested and deported, not “moms and babies.” The campaign also accused Paxton and his allies of trying to distract from the attorney general’s own record.