Since the moment of their defeat in the last presidential election, Democrats have debated whether it is better to emulate President Donald Trump or oppose him.
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Governors mocked him on social media, using tactics directly inspired by his slogan “Make America Great Again.” Senators have been making the rounds on conservative podcasts, intruding into the masculinist sphere that contributed to Donald Trump’s political comeback. And ambitious Democrats adopted his pugnacious, sometimes crude, political style, punctuating their interventions with expletives.
Then, on Tuesday, in the heart of Republican stronghold Texas, James Talarico entered the fray with an approach that seemed old-fashioned, but which, in 2026, was also new.
Mr. Talarico campaigned across the state, asking demoralized and divided Democrats to rise above their anger and welcome their moderate, independent and, yes, even Republican neighbors into their camp.
His message amounted to a bold gamble: In a divided and increasingly violent political era, he could appeal to voters by appealing to love rather than rage.
Early Wednesday morning, he won against Representative Jasmine Crockett, an emblematic figure very popular with the liberal base. His victory showed that the resistance-oriented party was ready to take a more inclusive approach.
PHOTO RICHARD RODRIGUEZ, REUTERS
Jasmine Crockett at election night in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday
The race excited Democrats in Texas and across the country, breaking early voting turnout records in a state where the party suffered what even its former chairman called “devastating defeats across the board” in 2024. Mr. Talarico won by widening his lead among white and Latino voters, and performed particularly well in border areas of South Texas that had turned to Mr. Trump in 2024.
“James Talarico has shown what the future of the Democratic Party will be,” said Texas Democratic Rep. Greg Casar, chairman of the House Progressive Caucus, which did not support any candidate in the primaries. “Through old-fashioned economic populism, James managed to bring together a coalition of progressives, independents and conservatives. »
A Republican opponent still uncertain
Of course, winning the general election will be even more difficult. No Democrat has won the state since 1994. Mr. Trump increased his lead from 9 points in the 2016 presidential election to nearly 14 points in 2024. For many Democrats, simply forcing Republicans to spend money to defend a Senate seat their party has held since 1961 would constitute a success in the midterm elections.
The identity of Mr. Talarico’s Republican opponent remains unclear. The race between Ken Paxton, a very combative far-right attorney general who is highly appreciated by the base of the MAGA movement, and Senator John Cornyn, in office for four terms, will be decided in a second round in May. Their line of attack, however, was clear in the early hours of Wednesday morning, when Republican strategists were quick to call Mr. Talarico “too radical” for Texas and compared him to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
But whether or not he becomes Texas’ next senator, Mr. Talarico believes his campaign can serve as a model for Democrats across the country trying to emerge from their political wilderness.
For more than a decade, Mr. Trump has dominated Democratic politics as their greatest enemy and the most powerful driver of their base. Democratic candidates have used their opposition to Mr. Trump to achieve victories across the board.
That strategy failed in 2024, Mr. Talarico said, when Democrats not only lost the White House but were shut out, once again, from running for statewide elections in Texas.
Of course, not everyone in the party will be happy about James Talarico’s victory. His race against Jasmine Crockett stoked racial tensions among some Democrats in the state. When Democrats and analysts talked about his “electability,” Mme Crockett, who is Black, called it a racial dog whistle, and some of her supporters saw it as coded racism and sexism.
Mme Crockett pledged his support for Mr. Talarico’s candidacy Wednesday morning. How strongly she rallies her supporters behind her could make the difference in a state that now embodies shattered liberal dreams.
For more than a decade, even as Texas has diversified and urbanized, the state has repeatedly broken the hearts of Democrats who thought changing demographics would eventually work in their favor.
But in James Talarico, Democrats are hopeful that they have finally found the right messenger to upset Texas Republicans. One of his challenges in the general election will be persuading black voters, who polls showed strongly supported Mme Crockett, to vote for him. Mr. Talarico acknowledged this during his primary campaign, asking black voters to make him “their second choice (just behind Mr.me Crockett).”
Julián Castro, a former mayor of San Antonio who ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, said Mr. Talarico’s candidacy offered Democrats their best opportunity in decades to move Texas into the category of swing states like Arizona or Georgia, once dominated by Republicans.
“This is the beginning, isn’t it? he said. This could be the turning point. The other side of the coin is that if it doesn’t work, what should we do? »
This article was published in the New York Times.
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