Do you want to win or not? Democrats should make James Talarico their Senate candidate | Endorsement
By The Editorial Board,
Opinions from the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board
Feb 3, 2026
If you want to understand why we recommend state Rep. James Talarico in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, you have to remember what it was like to be an Astros fan in 2014. The team was barreling toward its third straight 100-loss season. Seats were empty. Tickets were cheap. Only the most die-hard supporters were paying attention to the last-ros, disast-ros, best days were in the past-ros.
Fast-forward three years and a Houston Strong crowd packed Minute Maid Park, roaring through a five-hour slugfest as the Astros toppled the Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series before going on to win the best of seven.
The answer, at least in baseball: The Astros did whatever it took to win.
They broke with the past. They tore down the roster, invested in young talent, leaned into data, and stopped confusing loyalty with effectiveness.
Democrats should take notes.
Talarico offers Democrats their best chance to change direction — because he’s running a campaign that starts from an unblinking assessment of political reality. Texas is a red state. Any Democrat who wins statewide will have to persuade at least some Republicans to cross over.
That’s why Talarico isn’t running simply as a Democrat trying to beat a Republican. Talarico is running as a Texan taking on corruption in Washington.
In fact, ethics reform sits at the core of Talarico’s campaign: banning corporate PACs and super PACs; imposing term limits; mandating in-person town halls; ending partisan gerrymandering by both major parties; establishing enforceable ethics rules for the U.S. Supreme Court; and outlawing congressional stock trading.
“Do I believe that people who hold positions of public trust, especially in our federal government, especially in the executive branch, do I believe they need to be held accountable for any abuses of power? Of course!” Talarico told the editorial board. “I think that is not a partisan statement. That should be true of Democratic public officials. It should be true of Republican public officials.”
These aren’t the usual go-to issues for Texas Democrats — in fact, plenty of union leaders and longtime incumbents might balk at his attacks on PACs and congressional stock trading. But they are precisely the kinds of ideas that resonate with voters across party lines — the sort of ideas that would play well in November, whether running against longtime Sen. John Cornyn or scandal-plagued Attorney General Ken Paxton.
James Talarico is the only candidate in this race campaigning like he understands that winning requires a new playbook — one grounded in evidence and persuasion.