James Talarico, the state representative hoping to be the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat of Republican John Cornyn, has made his Christian faith a centerpiece of his campaign in a way that is unusual for white Democratic candidates in recent years.
Mr. Talarico, 36, has pitched himself as an opponent of Christian nationalism from within Christianity, an emissary for a Christian politics defined “by feeding the hungry, by healing the sick, by welcoming the stranger,” as he told Stephen Colbert in a widely watched interview in February. His slogan is “It’s time to start flipping tables,” a reference to the New Testament depiction of Jesus in righteous anger, ousting merchants and moneylenders from the temple in Jerusalem.
The candidate is a student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary with one year of class work to go, although he is on leave at the moment.
His nontraditional theological arguments have drawn ire from theological conservatives, who have called him “Scripture-twisting,” and accused him of doing what progressives often accuse conservatives of: contorting the Bible’s teachings to line up neatly with one party’s policy platform.
In an interview with the podcaster Joe Rogan, Mr. Talarico defended his support for abortion rights with an unusual interpretation of the biblical story in which Mary, the mother of Jesus, is visited by an angel before her pregnancy.
“The angel comes down and asks Mary if this is something she wants to do, and she says: If it is God’s will, let it be done,” Mr. Talarico said. “To me, that is an affirmation in one of our most central stories that creation has to be done with consent.” Speaking against a bill restricting transgender student athletes, he said that “God is nonbinary.”
Mr. Talarico’s fluency with Scripture and ease in speaking about his faith has made him popular with the national news media and with those who hope he can peel away Republican Christian votes. It’s not clear yet how this is resonating with those Christians. He has suggested on the campaign trail that he is not focused on winning over evangelicals, but other Christians.
About two-thirds of adults in Texas identify as Christian, according to the Pew Research Center. That includes 27 percent who are evangelicals, but also 22 percent who are Catholic, a politically heterogenous group, and 15 percent who represent other streams of Protestantism that are less tied to the Republican Party.
Mr. Talarico’s opponent, Representative Jasmine Crockett, is the daughter of a pastor and has called her experience in Black Baptist churches a “grounding” force. (Her own pastor in Dallas, Frederick Haynes III, is running to replace her in Congress.) But unlike many older Black Democratic candidates, Ms. Crockett has not spent as much time speaking about faith.
“We’ve seen these crazy swings that have been taking place, and they haven’t been taking place over faith,” she told The Texas Tribune, referring to several Democratic wins in special elections. “The most important conversation that Democrats can really engage in is connecting the policy to the pain.”
Ruth Graham is a national reporter, based in Dallas, covering religion, faith and values for The Times.
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