James Talarico has received the backing of the Congressional Black Caucus’s political arm in a Texas Senate race that Democrats believe could help determine control of the chamber.
The Democrat will face Ken Paxton, the Republican state attorney general, in November. Democrats have not won a Senate seat in Texas since 1988, while Donald Trump carried the state by almost 14 percentage points in the 2024 election.
The endorsement comes after Mr Talarico defeated Jasmine Crockett, a Black congresswoman, in the Democratic primary in March. His campaign has since faced questions over whether he can secure sufficient support from Black voters and other voters of colour.
Representative Gregory Meeks, the New York Democrat who chairs the caucus’s political action committee, said: “Black Texans deserve a senator who will show up, listen and fight for their communities — and James Talarico will be that.”
James Talarico promises investment in Black communities
During a campaign visit to Houston in July, Mr Talarico pledged that his campaign would spend 25 million dollars on outreach to Black voters.
He has also said he would support legislation restoring federal oversight of state election laws under the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The bill, named for the late civil rights leader John Lewis, would reverse restrictions introduced by Republican-controlled states during the Trump presidency.
Mr Talarico has promised to support funding for historically Black colleges and universities, tackle higher-than-average mortality among Black women during childbirth and promote investment in Black-owned businesses.
“Texas has the largest Black population of any state in the union, so it’s time we elected statewide leaders committed to working for and investing in Black communities,” he said.
Black and Latino voters will be central to the Democrat’s prospects. A June poll found Mr Talarico winning the support of 80 per cent of Black voters, although 12 per cent viewed him very unfavourably.
Ms Crockett endorsed Mr Talarico after conceding the primary but has not committed to campaigning alongside him. She did not appear at the party’s state convention and has said she would concentrate on contests further down the ballot.
Mr Talarico, a white state representative and seminarian, was also accused earlier this year of referring to former congressman Colin Allred as a “mediocre Black man”. He denied the account, saying his comments had been taken out of context and were directed at Mr Allred’s campaigning methods.
Mr Paxton’s record is expected to be a central target for Democrats. He has faced a criminal indictment on securities fraud charges and impeachment in the Texas Legislature, while Black and Latino groups have accused him of seeking to suppress non-white turnout as attorney general.
Those accusations include opposing emergency extensions to polling hours in cities and promoting Mr Trump’s false claims about voter fraud. In 2020, Mr Paxton played a central role in the unsuccessful legal effort to overturn Mr Trump’s defeat by Joseph R Biden Jr.
The Paxton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
