State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, speaks during a press conference in Austin on Thursday. Credit: X / jamestalarico

State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, is having a damn good week.

In the past seven days, the U.S. Senate hopeful has spoken to an at-capacity crowds in New Braunfels and in deep-red Collin County, and he appeared on a well-received episode of the New York Times’ Ezra Klein Show.​

Talarico continued to hog the media spotlight Thursday after unveiling an anti-corruption plan aimed at getting dirty money out of state and national politics. His agenda includes banning super PACs and corporate PACs from making campaign contributions, a nationwide ban on partisan gerrymandering and barring members of Congress from trading stocks.

“We often think corruption is stuff that just involves money, but corruption is really just the betrayal of the public’s trust,” Talarico said at a press conference held across the street from the Austin office of Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s been beset with one political scandal after another during his time in the role. “It is when people in power hold onto power at all costs and when they subvert the public’s will.”

Talarico’s anti-corruption platform also includes calls for term limits for members of Congress and the Supreme Court as well as a ban on presidential pardons.

When the Current asked Talarico during an earlier interview how plans to convince members of Congress to essentially agree to regulate themselves, the former San Antonio school teacher said it’s not up to him to convince them it’s the right thing to do.

“It’s not going to be from me, it’s going to be from the people of this state and the people around the country electing leaders who are going to fight for that kind of reform,” he added. “That’s where the power really lies. Big money is powerful, but it is nothing compared to people power.”

Talarico’s press conference came on the same day polling from Emerson College showed he leads his Democratic primary opponent, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas, 47%-38% with 15% still undecided.

Despite the positive polling, Talarico said he and his team will “keep campiaging as the underdog.”

“That’s what voters expect across Texas,” he added.

Emerson College’s survey included data from 413 likely Texas Democrat voters with a 4.8% margin of error.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...