State Rep. James Talarico, a Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful, appeared to make inroads with South Texas Latino voters after earning the endorsement of Tejano-star-turned-congressional candidate Bobby Pulido Thursday at a rally in the Rio Grande Valley.
“James shows up not when it’s easy, not just when it’s popular, but when it’s hard,” Pulido said. “That’s something I respect deeply, because that’s how I try to live my life too. At the end of the day, what we share is simple: we love this state, we care about people who don’t always get heard, and we are willing to put ourselves out there and fight for them.”
Talarico, who represents the Austin area, was the frontrunner in the Democratic primary for Texas’ contested Senate seat prior to U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, making a last-minute entry into the race.
Although Crockett leads Talarico — a former San Antonio schoolteacher training to become a Presbyterian pastor — by 8 points in recent polling, some analysts argue Crockett has a “Latino problem.” Last year, in a Vanity Fair interview, the congresswoman accused Texas Latinos who back strong border security of having a “slave mentality.”
In an interview this week with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Crockett clarified her remarks, saying she was specifically only referring to Latinos who voted for Trump.
“I don’t believe that the people that voted for Trump believe in what they’re actually getting. That is No. 1,” Crockett said. “What Trump said is that he was going to kick out the bad guys. And that’s what I was talking about.”
To many in South Texas, border security is far more complex than what many in both political parties paint it to be. What’s more, Latino voters — a complex demographic with often-divergent views — have a strong disdain for being painted with a broad stroke.
Perhaps that’s why both Pulido and Talarico are emphasizing their middle-of-the-road approach to politics, as opposed to Crockett’s progressive path.
“We refuse to be confined to our party,” Talarico said during the rally. “We’re speaking to something deeper in this state and in this country, and I think you’re already seeing it in Bobby’s campaign. He is bringing people together across the political spectrum.”
Talarico made similar comments to the Current earlier this month during a San Antonio campaign stop, arguing that he’s a “Texas Democrat” as opposed to a progressive.
“I think people are naturally rejecting the extremism and the corruption that they’re seeing in our politics,” Talarico said. “They want leaders in both parties who are going to stand up and do the people’s business, not the business of billionaire megadonors.”
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