Texas Democrats haven’t won a U.S. Senate seat since 1988. Ronald Reagan was president, “Die Hard” debuted in theaters, and Michael Jackson and Rick Astley topped the charts. It would be another four years before Bill Clinton’s campaign landed on the phrase “safe, legal and rare” while the party “tripped over themselves trying to appear both for and against abortion” (in the words of The Atlantic).

Now Democrats are hoping to pull off a midterm miracle where pro-abortion Wendy Davis and Beto O’Rourke failed before—and achieve a U.S. Senate majority this fall. They think their prayer of winning lies in James Talarico: straight out of Central Casting, a clean-cut, 37-year-old Presbyterian preacher from Round Rock.

After social media exploded with Talarico’s incendiary statements on topics like abortion and gender, he has attempted to walk them back to some extent and pitched himself to outlets like Fox News in a general election pivot. In a town hall last week, one informed Texas voter got the chance to call him out directly for claiming “the Bible is silent on abortion”:

For all Texas voters, whatever their faith, the biblical warning not to judge by outward appearances is wise. Talarico’s record, public statements, and preaching show the would-be senator will use any means, even invoking divine authority, to promote the brutal business of abortion.

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While abortion is clearly opposed in ancient Christian texts, Talarico holds a particularly extreme, disturbing position on the sanctity of human life that Americans across the board reject.

As a preacher and commentator, he has used scriptures to argue Christians not only can support abortion but even the horrific dismemberment of healthy babies immediately before birth. As a lawmaker, he has gone out of his way to strip protections out of the law, not only for unborn children, but for newborn infants who somehow survive the abortionist’s lethal tools, too.

🧵@jamestalarico is making “love your neighbor” a campaign slogan. Let’s talk about the ones he ignores.

His abortion agenda is extreme and wildly out of step with Texas values. He’s been clear about what he wants and how far he’s willing to go to get it.👇1/10 https://t.co/eYUhEWgDmi

— SBA Pro-Life America (@sbaprolife) March 4, 2026

Talarico’s Shocking Texas Voting Record

In the Texas House, Talarico voted against protecting babies born alive after surviving failed abortions and pushed for an amendment to the Texas Constitution to repeal pro-life state laws. He voted against protecting babies when their heartbeat can be detected, pushed to repeal five separate Texas laws defending the unborn and proposed banning any future protections for unborn babies that abortionists find “unreasonable.”

In 2021, Talarico voted against preserving basic abortion drug safeguards in Texas: ensuring nondoctors can’t prescribe abortion drugs, requiring an in-person medical visit to screen for potentially life-threatening complications, and ending the dangerous practice of sending abortion drugs through the mail. Additionally, he voted for an amendment to weaken the penalties for violating the law from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Unsurprisingly, Planned Parenthood has repeatedly endorsed Talarico, including in 2024 and 2026. Talarico thanked the abortion giant for supporting him in 2020.

Government Abortionists for Hire

On the day of the 2022 Dobbs Supreme Court victory, Talarico immediately petitioned the Biden administration in writing to undermine pro-life protections in Texas and nationwide. His asks included:

• Establishing abortion centers on federal government land.
• Hiring abortionists as federal employees and granting them immunity from being sued.
• Blocking state-level safeguards against deadly abortion drugs.

In a speech at the Texas Democratic Convention, Talarico repeated these asks as part of an appeal to President Biden to “restore the soul” of the country and imitate Jesus by “defeating Trumpism.” Biden’s Food and Drug Administration would later eliminate its in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone, making this high-risk, “Black Box” drug available fully by mail.

That summer, Talarico praised the City of Austin for passing the “Grace Act,” claiming “the city of Austin just decriminalized abortion.” Notably, the City of Austin included no language about gestational age or any other circumstances in their attempt at “deprioritizing” enforcement of Texas pro-life laws, meaning abortions all the way up to birth would also be deprioritized for enforcement.

In November 2022, during a sermon given at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church after a few weeks as a seminarian, Talarico characterized pro-life protections as an example of “Christofascism” and claimed “nothing is more un-Christian” than Texas’ laws protecting the unborn, alleging “more than half our population became second class citizens. Every one of our neighbors with a uterus became the property of the state.” Talarico apologetically explained that he doesn’t mean to exclude anyone by saying “women” in his abortion rhetoric, affirming that “trans women need abortions too” and “when I use the word woman, it should not be understood as an exhaustive term, but rather as a lens through which to understand, examine and interrogate patriarchy.”

In 2024, he described the Dobbs decision allowing the people and their elected representatives to pass laws protecting unborn babies as the work of “Christian Nationalists” on the Supreme Court.

Life “At First Breath”

Talarico has been the subject of glowing profiles portraying him as a Christian statesman from outlets such as Politico and The New York Times.

During a July 2025 appearance on The Joe Rogan Show, Rogan asked Talarico point-blank, “What do you think is the biblical evidence to support the opinion of being pro-abortion?”

Talarico peddled a debunked narrative that the Torah or Christian Old Testament contains instructions on how to commit an abortion or that life arguably doesn’t begin until “first breath” (the same argument advanced by Democrats ranging from Pete Buttigieg to Iowa governor candidate Rob Sand). In the most infamous portion of all, Talarico used the biblical story of the Annunciation, in which Mary is visited by an angel and agrees to bear the child Jesus, to defend his stance.

Rogan pressed Talarico further, stating correctly, “I think also most Americans are very uncomfortable with the concept of late term abortions,” to which Talarico responded by referencing alleged data showing late-term abortions are “almost exclusively to save the life of the mother.” This data doesn’t exist.

What’s At Stake This November

Talarico has sometimes claimed there is no place for government in abortion policy—but from the totality of his record, it’s clear that view only cuts in one direction: against any limits to protect the unborn.

If elected this November, Talarico would join a Democratic Senate caucus united behind abortion up to birth. Democrats need only flip four seats to gain a Senate majority. With just 51 votes, they could end the filibuster to close off debate and pass bills with a bare majority. House Democrats have released a “first 100 hours” agenda that includes legalizing all-trimester abortion in every state (the so-called Women’s Health Protection Act, backed unanimously by Senate Democrats), and eliminating the Hyde Amendment to force taxpayers everywhere to fund elective abortions of healthy babies who feel pain. Research credits the Hyde Amendment with saving nearly 2.7 million lives.

Contrast Talarico’s record with that of his Republican opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has fought to uphold the laws of Texas, pursued every legal avenue to hold illegal abortionists and abortion drug sellers accountable, and given sanctuary to mothers fleeing from coerced abortions in other states like California while Talarico remained silent.

Whether Texans buy into Talarico the abortion preacher’s religious vision or not, the choice before them this fall couldn’t be clearer.