Texas state Rep. James Talarico secured the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate on March 3, 2026, defeating U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett with roughly 52.8% of the vote.
The race drew enormous attention across the country, with Talarico raising $1 million within 12 hours of launching his campaign last September.
Talarico, a 36-year-old Presbyterian seminarian and former middle school teacher, has built his campaign almost entirely around his Christian faith, regularly quoting Scripture and framing his political arguments in terms of Biblical morality.
His campaign distributed “Love thy Neighbor” signs at his primary night watch party in Austin, where he addressed supporters early Wednesday morning.
“Tonight, the people of our state gave this country a little bit of hope,” Talarico told the crowd. “And a little bit of hope is a dangerous thing.”
Those faith-based credentials attracted praise from New York Times columnist David French, who described Talarico as “a Christian X-ray” in a recent column, adding that “if the primary American divide is between decent and indecent, then the equation changes. Talarico shines.”
However, a November 2025 report from Axios revealed that Talarico follows ten Instagram accounts belonging to women identified as popular adult film performers, OnlyFans models, and individuals with profiles on escort websites.
The Axios report also noted that earlier in 2025, Talarico had “liked” separate photos posted by an Austin-based Instagram user who also maintains an OnlyFans account and a page on EscortBook.com, a site that describes itself as the “#1 content management system in the escort industry.”
Among the accounts Talarico follows is @honky_tonkangel, an Instagram profile with nearly 250,000 followers belonging to an adult film performer who goes by the name Giselle Palmer, according to the report.
Axios also found that several Instagram accounts Talarico follows have matching usernames appearing on sites including datingpornstar.com and escortstate.com, with multiple accounts also featuring adult content on OnlyFans.
Talarico’s spokesman, J.T. Ennis, offered an explanation after the report was published, saying that “the social media team — including James — follows back and engages with supporters who have large followings and does not investigate their backgrounds.”
Ennis further stated that his candidate attached no moral judgment to how these women earn their income.
“While James was unaware of how these women make money,” Ennis said, “he does not judge them for it and will not play into an effort to smear them for clickbait articles. That’s exactly what his Christian faith calls him to do.”
Days after the Axios story was published, Talarico appeared on “Pod Save America” and made remarks consistent with his spokesman’s earlier statements.
“I very much believe in fighting back when you feel like your neighbors are under attack,” Talarico said, according to the Houston Chronicle.
“I didn’t know what these women did on their own time, but I am not going to judge them for it. I am also not going to participate in an effort to smear them for clickbait.”
Talarico now faces the winner of the Republican primary runoff between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, scheduled for May 26.
Paxton was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 on allegations of bribery and corruption but was acquitted by the state Senate and has also faced accusations of marital infidelity.
No Democrat has won a statewide race in Texas in over 30 years.
