State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, has pledged to spend $25 million to mobilize Black voters on behalf of his campaign for the U.S. Senate this fall. Most polling shows Talarico in a statistical dead heat against his Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, said the investment is much larger than what Texas typically sees from statewide Democratic campaigns in terms of efforts to mobilize the Black vote. Garnering the support of Black Texans figures to be critical for Talarico as he seeks to become the first Democrat to win a statewide election in more than 30 years.
"This clearly signals the Talarico campaign is worried about making sure the Black vote comes out," Rottinghaus said. "The Black vote is central to Democratic success in Texas, and historically without a sizable turnout among Black voters, Democrats have not done well."
Talarico spoke at a town hall Sunday at the Kingdom Builders’ Center in southwest Houston, where he was joined by Black elected officials at the municipal, state and federal levels. Talarico said the spending pledge — which his campaign asserts is a record for Texas in terms of trying to mobilize the Black vote — was the start of greater engagement, not the end.
"I’m going to keep showing up," Talarico said, "and I’m asking you to continue to hold me accountable."
Much of Talarico's Sunday town hall was given over to a question-and-answer session, aimed at addressing concerns about the Talarico campaign's interactions with the Black community. The discussion was passionate at times.
"I think he’s better off than where he was a week ago," said Shamier Bouie, chair of the Houston Black American Democrats. "I think there’s still more work to be done, and I think, from what I’m hearing, they are willing to be putting in the work, and that this is just the beginning of the conversation."
Attendees pressed the candidate on issues ranging from the need for greater Black staffing in his campaign to a commitment to condemn online bullying by his supporters aimed at Talarico’s opponent in the Democratic primary, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.
"If you claim to be my supporter, if you claim to be a part of this movement that we are building, please keep [Congresswoman] Crockett’s name out of your mouth," Talarico said.
Rottinghaus said that, for the spending pledge to be effective, Talarico's campaign would need to concentrate on organizing grassroots support in Black neighborhoods across the state, specifically with a major investment in staffing.
"They have to invest in communities where they’ve been lacking in the past," Rottinghaus said. "They have to make sure that local activists on the ground are tapped into what the Talarico campaign is doing. They’ve got to have enough funds to be able to spread that money around locally and then have organizers in the communities use that to lift up the Talarico campaign."
Paxton's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Talarico's campaign pledge.
Rottinghaus provided some insight into how the Republican candidate is focusing his own voter mobilization efforts.
"Paxton strategy looks more like coalition management than coalition expansion," Rottinghaus said. "His strategy is more defense than offense. He's spending most of his time rallying suburban conservatives and trying to hold the Trump Latino coalition in South Texas.”
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Rottinghaus said Paxton is focusing on the border, security issues, conservatism and faith — as well as on one of Talarico's signature issues, affordability.
"These are all issues that Republicans were able to win over among Latino voters in 2024,” Rottinghaus said. “His messaging on these issues, especially on social issues, implies that he thinks that Latino boat is persuadable rather than being just temporary Trump voters. There's not much evidence that Paxton is spending time courting Black voters."
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