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Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico said he believes state laws have stacked the deck against him as he looks to become the first Democrat to win statewide office since 1994.
“Means you’re probably going to have to win by a little more than we would have to in a completely free and fair election,” Talarico said in a recent podcast interview.
Talarico’s posture towards Texas voting laws reflects a broader Democratic belief that Republican dominance in the Lone Star State is due to low turnout brought on by election security measures rather than the state’s conservative leanings — a theory that continues to drive long-running attempts to flip the state.
Despite having raised an impressive $40 million as of March, Talarico faces an uphill campaign against Republican candidate Ken Paxton, the current Texas attorney general, who has widespread name recognition.
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James Talarico, a Democrat from Texas and US Senate candidate, speaks at a campaign event in Round Rock, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We’re going to have to overcome that. We’re going to have to out-organize, out-work, out-hustle that voter suppression if we’re going to win,” Talarico said.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas passed a flurry of election-security bills.
Most notably, the legislature passed SB1, a bill that requires voters to provide specific identification numbers to vote and to register to vote: either a Texas driver’s license, an election identification certificate or the last four digits of a Social Security number.
It also banned drive-through voting and unsolicited mailing of ballot applications.
Talarico said he opposed its passage as a state legislator.
“I will say that we already have a lot of voter suppression in Texas. It’s baked into our laws. I’ve fought fiercely against…
