While Texas Republicans have been distracted by their bitter, protracted runoff battle for the Senate, James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, has been focused on the general election.
Since he won the Democratic nomination in March, Mr. Talarico has been raising money, working to unify the party and seeking to solidify his support among Black voters.
Mr. Talarico had tacos in Austin with former President Barack Obama. He gave the commencement address at Paul Quinn College, a historically Black college in Dallas. And he met with Opal Lee, the 99-year-old voting rights activist who led the movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
As his two potential Republican opponents, Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton, raised money that they spent attacking each other, Mr. Talarico raised money for what’s expected to be a hugely expensive and highly contentious general election.
Mr. Talarico won the Democratic primary election in March over U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett of Dallas in a contest that had some racial tensions between their supporters.
Without a runoff opponent, Mr. Talarico, a state representative and former schoolteacher, turned his sights to uniting Democrats as they undertook the more daunting task of trying to win statewide in Texas for the first time in 30 years.
To that end, Mr. Talarico, who is white, has spent the past two months traveling the state, raising money and shoring up support with important voter groups, including Black Texans who overwhelmingly backed Ms. Crockett, who is Black.
Democrats believe the 2026 Senate race presents their best chance in years for a big victory in Texas, and they have seen Mr. Paxton, the outgoing attorney general of Texas, as the more vulnerable opponent.
Mr. Paxton secured President Trump’s endorsement last week, making his victory in the Republican contest more likely.
Reacting to the news, Mr. Talarico said he would have the same message in the general election no matter which Republican prevails on Tuesday.
“Our movement to take back Texas for working people rises above party politics,” Mr. Talarico said in a statement. “The biggest fight is not left versus right, it’s top versus bottom.”
Lauren McGaughy is the Texas politics correspondent for The New York Times, writing about the ways that policymakers in the second largest state are changing lives for their citizens and influencing American politics.
The post As Republicans Battled in the Runoff, Talarico Sought to Unify Democrats appeared first on New York Times.
