James Talarico has Democrats dreaming big after decades of dashed hopes in Texas

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Democrats have been dreaming big in Texas for decades, awash in optimism that this could finally be the year to win a US Senate seat.

For the first time, lifelong Republican Pete Nodecker is joining them, planning to cast his ballot for James Talarico when early voting begins here next week.

“I’m rather disillusioned with the Republican Party,” said Nodecker, 81, a retired restaurant supplier. “The Republican Party has been hijacked. They’re not the Republican Party that I was a member of for all my life.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Stream the CNN & Jubilee Town Hall with James Talarico live Wednesday, October 14, at 8 p.m. ET with an All Access subscription .

In the final three weeks of the fall campaign, Talarico is seeking to build a coalition of voters to break a 38-year streak of Democrats falling short in their bid for Senate. He’s hoping to tap into the dissatisfaction of voters like Nodecker, who twice voted for Donald Trump, while motivating Democrats to believe in his ability to defeat GOP nominee Ken Paxton.

“I’m a Democrat in Texas, so we’re always a little bit nervous,” said Sue Reed, a member of the Tarrant County Democratic Woman’s Club. “But I would say this has been the most positive vibe and energy that we’ve seen in years.”

The modern ritual of Democratic optimism in Texas dates to at least 2002, when the party put together a “Dream Team” ticket led by former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who ran for Senate.

In 2014, Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis drew national fanfare as she ran for governor after a high-profile filibuster against abortion restrictions. Four years later, Beto O’Rourke shattered fundraising records and drew massive crowds as he challenged Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

Through it all, Democrats came up short — and sometimes very short. O’Rourke remains the high-water mark, losing to Cruz by less than 3 percentage points.

This year’s Senate contest has become one of the marquee races in the fight for control of the chamber, a leading example of how Republicans are scrambling to defend deeply red terrain. The seat almost certainly would not have been competitive if Paxton hadn’t defeated Sen. John Cornyn in the May primary runoff.

Talarico, a 37-year-old state representative, was born the year after the last Democratic senator from Texas, Lloyd Bentsen, was reelected in 1988. He has inspired sanguine Democrats and won over some Republicans frustrated by the president and their party.

“He impresses me because he’s willing to take questions from all sides,” said Glen Whitley, a retired Tarrant County judge, who has urged his fellow Republicans to “put country over party” and support Talarico. “I’m ashamed that Ken Paxton is even on the ballot.”

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Paxton and his allies in Washington have launched a furious, nine-figure advertising campaign to paint Talarico as too liberal for Texas.

They have especially seized on his past comments about gender and religion, such as his remark during a 2021 legislative debate that “God is nonbinary.” He has since admitted that some of his comments “missed the mark” and has sought to moderate his views on transgender issues.

Paxton has accused Talarico of undergoing a political makeover to hide his true views from Texans.

“California already has two senators. They don’t need a third,” Paxton says in a staple of his stump speech.

Republicans are scrambling to unify their ranks against Talarico. Paxton said in a speech Friday that there are “a lot of apathetic Republicans” right now, suggesting it was due to the Iran war, and Trump has said he is “worried” about the race.

In one conversation after another, Democratic voters in Texas were upbeat at Talarico’s prospects over Paxton, even as some acknowledged an air of caution that the state’s long pattern of voting GOP could dash Democratic hopes.

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“I think what’s different is that James has done such a great job of tapping into what a lot of people are upset about,” said Laura Leeman, a Democratic voter in Fort Worth. “And not just from one party or the other.”

As she attended a Democratic fundraising event at a Fort Worth gallery, Joyce Franklin said she was working to stay positive in the final weeks of a nail-biting campaign.

“I’m trying to remain as optimistic as I can without being totally let down,” Franklin said, recalling the devastation she felt in 2024 when Trump won a second term. “I don’t want to set myself up for that disappointment again, but I think this time we finally have the right formula to move forward.”

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The grandson of a pastor and a seminary student himself, Talarico talks far more about faith than most Democrats. As he campaigns, he sprinkles in verses from the Gospel of Luke, along with the argument that love is a stronger motivating force than hate.

“His faith is important to him, and that’s something we don’t always see in Democratic candidates,” said Jill Fox, a Democratic voter from River Oaks. “I think that’s an interesting dynamic that’s attracting some independents and maybe even some crossover Republicans.”

Talarico has a master’s degree in theological studies from the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and is training to become an ordained minister.

A former middle school teacher in San Antonio, Talarico entered politics in 2018 when he ran for a Republican-held seat in the northern suburbs of Austin. The 29-year-old’s win made him the youngest member of the Texas Legislature at the time.

He quickly established himself as an advocate for public education and other bread-and-butter issues. However, he found himself competing for more liberal voters after Republican redistricting forced him to seek reelection in 2022 in an Austin-based district.

It was around that period that Talarico began voicing more progressive views on social issues — and offering some of the comments that he now refers to as “cringey.” Republicans are working hard to make sure their voters do not forget those moments.

Marvin Rodak, who owns a coffee roasting and auto repair business in Fort Worth, said he was carefully following the Senate race and remained undecided as the campaign entered the home stretch. He said he was frustrated by the tariff whiplash from the Trump administration and record diesel prices, but also uncertain that he wanted to see Democrats control the Senate.

“The true Democratic Party is fading,” said Rodak, 75, who was raised in a Democratic household and became a Republican as an adult. “Democrats need to distance themselves from socialism.”

He said he was concerned by Paxton’s legal and political baggage , but not sold on Talarico’s ability to do the job without undue influence from Democratic leaders. He said he intended to carefully study both candidates before reaching a decision.

“I think every election is an opportunity to send a message,” Rodak said.

Rodak is the kind of voter who Republicans are intensely targeting in the final weeks of the race, hopeful they will come home once they learn more about Talarico.

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From the start of September through Election Day, Republican-aligned groups are planning to spend $232 million — more than they’re set to spend on competitive Senate campaigns in Michigan and Maine combined. The bulk of the outside spending by the GOP has come from Texas PAC, a group affiliated with the Senate Leadership Fund, the top Republican super PAC in Senate races.

“If you care about your children, do not vote for James Talarico,” a woman says in one ad, suggesting Talarico supports gender-affirming surgery for minors.

Talarico voted against a 2023 bill prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors, but he now says he opposes surgeries and opposed the bill because it was too broad. In an ad of his own, he faces the camera directly and says: “No, I don’t support sex-change surgeries for kids.”

In trying to shore up its voters, the GOP has even deployed Paxton’s estranged wife, Angela Paxton, to make the case that Republicans should stick with the entire ticket, even if they have reservations about specific candidates.

In the final weeks of the race, Trump has focused relentlessly on Texas . On each of his last three visits, he has aggressively assailed Talarico, as he tries to rescue Ken Paxton’s candidacy. Vice President JD Vance is set to hold a rally Tuesday with Paxton in East Texas, a deep-red region where the candidate needs his base to turn out in large numbers.

Nodecker, who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 but became infuriated by him after his response to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, said he believes Trump’s frequent trips to Texas could backfire and motivate his critics more than his remaining loyalists.

“If anything,” Nodecker said, “it persuades me to go the opposite direction even more.”

CNN’s Ashley Killough contributed to this report.

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几十年来，德克萨斯州的民主党人一直怀揣着远大的梦想，乐观地认为今年或许终于能赢得一个美国参议院席位。

终身共和党人皮特·诺德克尔 (Pete Nodecker) 也首次加入他们的行列，他计划在下周提前投票开始时投票给詹姆斯·塔拉里科 (James Talarico)。

“我对共和党相当失望，”81岁的诺德克尔说道，他是一位退休的餐饮供应商。“共和党已经被劫持了。他们已经不是我一生都效力的那个共和党了。”

编者注：订阅 All Access 即可于美国东部时间 10 月 14 日星期三晚上 8 点在线观看 CNN 和 Jubilee Town Hall 与 James Talarico 的直播。

在秋季竞选的最后三周，塔拉里科正努力建立一个选民联盟，以打破民主党在参议院选举中连续38年失利的局面。他希望能够利用像诺德克这样曾两次投票给唐纳德·特朗普的选民的不满情绪，同时激励民主党人相信他有能力击败共和党候选人肯·帕克斯顿。

“我是德克萨斯州的一名民主党人，所以我们总是有点紧张，”塔兰特县民主党妇女俱乐部成员苏·里德说。“但我认为，这是我们多年来见过的最积极的氛围和活力。”

德克萨斯州民主党人乐观主义的现代仪式至少可以追溯到 2002 年，当时该党组建了一支由前达拉斯市长罗恩·柯克领导的“梦之队”竞选参议员。

2014年，民主党州参议员温迪·戴维斯(Wendy Davis)在竞选州长期间，因一场声势浩大的反对堕胎限制的冗长辩论而备受瞩目。四年后，贝托·奥鲁克(Beto O'Rourke)挑战共和党参议员特德·克鲁兹(Ted Cruz)时，筹款金额屡创新高，吸引了大量支持者。

纵观整个过程，民主党人始终未能取胜——有时甚至败得很惨。奥鲁克是其中的佼佼者，他以不到3个百分点的差距输给了克鲁兹。

今年的参议院选举已成为争夺参议院控制权的焦点之战，也是共和党竭力捍卫其传统票仓的典型例证。如果帕克斯顿没有在五月的初选决胜轮中击败约翰·科宁参议员，这个席位几乎肯定不会出现竞争。

现年 37 岁的州众议员塔拉里科出生于 1988 年，也就是德克萨斯州最后一位民主党参议员劳埃德·本特森连任的第二年。他鼓舞了乐观的民主党人，也赢得了一些对总统和共和党感到失望的共和党人的支持。

“他给我留下深刻印象，因为他愿意接受各方的提问，”退休的塔兰特县法官格伦·惠特利说道。惠特利一直敦促他的共和党同僚们“将国家利益置于党派利益之上”，支持塔拉里科。“肯·帕克斯顿竟然出现在选票上，我感到羞耻。”

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帕克斯顿和他在华盛顿的盟友发起了一场声势浩大的、耗资数亿美元的广告宣传活动，旨在将塔拉里科描绘成对德克萨斯州来说过于自由派的人。

他们尤其抓住他过去关于性别和宗教的言论大做文章，例如他在2021年的一次立法辩论中声称“上帝是非二元的”。此后，他承认自己的一些言论“有失偏颇”，并试图缓和自己对跨性别问题的看法。

帕克斯顿指责塔拉里科进行了政治形象改造，以向德州人掩盖他的真实观点。

“加州已经有两位参议员了，不需要第三位，”帕克斯顿在他的竞选演讲中经常这样说。

共和党人正竭力团结起来对抗塔拉里科。帕克斯顿周五在一次演讲中表示，目前“有很多共和党人漠不关心”，暗示这与伊朗战争有关。特朗普也表示他对这场选举感到“担忧”。

在一次又一次的谈话中，德克萨斯州的民主党选民对塔拉里科战胜帕克斯顿的前景感到乐观，尽管一些人也承认，该州长期以来投票支持共和党的模式可能会使民主党的希望落空。

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“我认为不同之处在于，詹姆斯非常擅长抓住许多人不满的根源，”沃斯堡的民主党选民劳拉·利曼说。“而且不仅仅是来自某一党派的人。”

乔伊斯·富兰克林在沃斯堡一家画廊参加民主党筹款活动时表示，她正在努力保持积极乐观的心态，迎接这场扣人心弦的竞选的最后几周。

“我尽量保持乐观，但又不想彻底失望，”富兰克林说道，她回忆起2024年特朗普连任时她所感受到的那种沮丧。“我不想再次经历那种失望，但我认为这一次我们终于找到了前进的正确方法。”

拉丁裔选民、数据中心和共和党面临的问题，让德克萨斯州民主党人看到了20年来最大的希望。

塔拉里科的祖父是一位牧师，他本人也曾就读于神学院，因此他谈论信仰的次数远比大多数民主党人多。在竞选活动中，他经常引用《路加福音》中的经文，并强调爱比恨更有力量。

“他的信仰对他来说很重要，而这一点在民主党候选人中并不常见，”来自里弗奥克斯的民主党选民吉尔·福克斯说。“我认为这是一个有趣的现象，它吸引了一些独立选民，甚至可能还有一些倒戈的共和党人。”

塔拉里科拥有奥斯汀长老会神学院神学研究硕士学位，目前正在接受培训，准备成为一名牧师。

塔拉里科曾是圣安东尼奥的一名中学教师，2018年他投身政坛，竞选奥斯汀北部郊区一个由共和党把持的席位。这位29岁的年轻人胜选后，成为当时德克萨斯州议会最年轻的议员。

他很快就树立了自己作为公共教育和其他民生议题倡导者的形象。然而，由于共和党重新划分选区，迫使他在2022年于奥斯汀所在的选区寻求连任，他发现自己需要与更多自由派选民竞争。

大约就在那时，塔拉里科开始就社会问题发表更为进步的观点——并发表了一些他现在称之为“令人尴尬”的言论。共和党人正努力确保他们的选民不会忘记这些时刻。

在沃斯堡拥有一家咖啡烘焙和汽车修理店的马文·罗达克表示，他一直在密切关注参议院的竞选，但随着竞选进入最后阶段，他仍然犹豫不决。他说，他对特朗普政府反复无常的关税政策和创纪录的柴油价格感到沮丧，但同时也不确定自己是否希望看到民主党控制参议院。

“真正的民主党正在消亡，”75岁的罗达克说道。他成长于一个民主党家庭，成年后却成为了共和党人。“民主党人需要与社会主义划清界限。”

他表示，他担心帕克斯顿的法律和政治背景，但并不完全相信塔拉里科能够不受民主党领导人的不当影响而胜任这份工作。他说，他打算在做出决定前仔细研究两位候选人的情况。

“我认为每一次选举都是传递信息的机会，”罗达克说。

罗达克是共和党在竞选最后几周重点争取的那类选民，共和党希望他们在更多地了解塔拉里科之后会倒戈。

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从9月初到选举日，与共和党结盟的团体计划花费2.32亿美元——这比他们在密歇根州和缅因州竞争激烈的参议院竞选中的支出总和还要多。共和党的大部分外部支出来自德克萨斯州政治行动委员会（Texas PAC），该委员会隶属于参议院领导基金（Senate Leadership Fund），后者是共和党在参议院竞选中最大的超级政治行动委员会。

“如果你关心你的孩子，就不要投票给詹姆斯·塔拉里科，”一位女士在一则广告中说道，暗示塔拉里科支持对未成年人进行性别确认手术。

塔拉里科曾投票反对一项2023年禁止为未成年人提供性别确认治疗的法案，但他现在表示，他反对的是变性手术本身，而他反对该法案的原因是其范围过广。在他自己发布的一则广告中，他直视镜头说道：“不，我不支持为儿童进行变性手术。”

为了巩固选民基础，共和党甚至派出了帕克斯顿分居的妻子安吉拉·帕克斯顿，来论证共和党人应该支持整个候选人阵容，即使他们对某些候选人有所保留。

在竞选的最后几周，特朗普将重心毫不松懈地放在了德克萨斯州。在他最近三次到访该州期间，他都对塔拉里科进行了猛烈抨击，试图挽救肯·帕克斯顿的竞选。副总统JD·万斯将于周二与帕克斯顿在德克萨斯州东部举行竞选集会，该地区是共和党的传统票仓，帕克斯顿需要其支持者踊跃投票。

诺德克尔在 2016 年和 2020 年都投票给了特朗普，但在 2021 年 1 月 6 日国会大厦袭击事件发生后，他对特朗普的回应感到愤怒。诺德克尔表示，他认为特朗普频繁访问德克萨斯州可能会适得其反，反而会激励他的批评者，而不是激励他剩下的忠实拥护者。

“如果说有什么影响的话，”诺德克尔说，“那就是它让我更加坚定了反其道而行之的决心。”

CNN的Ashley Killough对本报道亦有贡献。