Texas Rep. James Talarico, a Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful, has pledged on the campaign trail to make billionaires pay their fair share.
On Monday, he put his money where his mouth is and unveiled a plan to eliminate tax breaks for the ultra-rich. That program includes abolishing write-offs for the purchase of luxury items and restricting use of offshore bank accounts to avoid federal taxes, the Austin-Round Rock politician told reporters, Express-News reports.
“A lot of these billionaires have used our infrastructure, they have benefited from our public schools,” Talarico told press gathered near a private jet hangar at Hobby Airport in Houston, according to the daily. “They have used the productivity of our workers to build [their businesses]. All I’m asking is that they chip in to ensure that there is a ladder behind them for more working Texans to move up in this economy, to thrive and succeed.”
Talarico advocated for closing exemptions such as the “carried interest loophole,” which enables businesses such as hedge fund and venture capital managers to treat earnings as capital gains rather than ordinary income, according to the Express-News. The state rep argues this change alone would bring billions of dollars into the federal treasury.
Talarico has also taken aim at the President Donald Trump’s recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which created tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans on purchases of yachts, cars, racehorses and private jets.
“I want an economy that creates fewer trillionaires and more millionaires. I want people to succeed,” Talarico said, according to the Express-News. “Call me crazy, but I think your average working Texan should pay less in federal income taxes than your average billionaire.”
George and the giants
Despite fielding criticism for receiving donations from casino mogul and Republican mega-donor Miriam Adelson and other deep-pocketed backers, Talarico has repeatedly spoken out against Texas billionaires on the campaign trail and during his four terms in office.
In particular, he’s zeroed in on Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, a pair of West Texas oil-and-gas billionaires who rank as the state’s top Republican donors.
Talarico will face off against either incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn or Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in November following a May runoff between the two Republicans. Paxton’s had more help from Wilks and Dunn, who typically favor hard-right candidates who challenge RINOs — or Republicans in Name Only — a term frequently applied to Cornyn.
Indeed, Paxton’s long had the financial backing of Dunn, Midland’s “ultra-right kingmaker,” since the future AG ran against San Antonio’s Joe Straus for Speaker of the Texas House in 2011, according to a profile of the pair’s relationship in Texas Monthly. Though Paxton lost the contest, he ran for Texas Senate the following year with Dunn’s help and won.
Later, Dunn gave Paxton a $1 million loan as he pursued the Texas Attorney General’s Office, according to another Texas Monthly report.
“They’ve already bought our governor, they’ve bought our lieutenant governor, they’ve bought our attorney general, they’ve bought our State Senate,” Talarico said in a 2025 speech about the mega-donor duo.
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