Texas state Rep. James Talarico won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate after a campaign that emphasized Latino outreach and a message centered on "faith and family and jobs," a strategy his advisers say helped secure strong support among Hispanic voters.
Chuck Rocha, a senior adviser to the campaign, told The Wall Street Journal that the approach was designed to appeal to values many Latino voters prioritize:
"Latinos are an aspirational people, and they want to aspire. And they are also religious people, and they're...for economic populism. They didn't know James four months ago, we had to go introduce him, tell them who he was, and they liked what they saw"
Talarico defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary in a race closely watched by party strategists searching for ways to reconnect with Latino voters, a group where Republicans have made gains in recent elections. As of Wednesday morning, Talarico led with about 53% of the vote to Crockett's 46%, allowing him to avoid a runoff. Crockett conceded Wednesday and said she had congratulated Talarico on becoming the Democratic nominee.
In heavily Latino parts of Texas, Talarico ran ahead by wide margins, as WSJ points out. In counties where the population is at least 60% Latino, he won roughly 63% of the vote compared with Crockett's 34%, according to Associated Press data cited by the Journal.
His campaign invested heavily in Spanish-language outreach, including advertising during major soccer broadcasts and the Premio Lo Nuestro music awards. Talarico also campaigned alongside Tejano singer Bobby Pulido, a Democrat running for Congress in South Texas who also won his primary.
The campaign also partnered with Carlos Espina, a Spanish-language influencer with more than 14 million followers on TikTok, who joined Talarico at campaign stops and appeared in Spanish-language ads promoting his candidacy.
Talarico framed his campaign as inclusive of voters across the political spectrum. At a rally in San Antonio, he told supporters that people from different political backgrounds were welcome. "If you voted for Donald Trump, but you are fed up with the extremism and the corruption in our government, you also have a place," he said.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who had supported Crockett during the primary, also endorsed Talarico after the race was called, saying he was "making the case for the kind of civic renewal our country needs."
Talarico will now face the Republican nominee in November as Democrats attempt to win their first statewide election in Texas in decades. Republicans are still deciding their candidate after Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton advanced to a runoff in the GOP primary.
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