2026-05-27T15:43:49.865Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/27/politics/james-talarico-vegan-policy-positions
得克萨斯州联邦参议院民主党候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科在共和党于周二敲定该选区候选人后，重新进入全国公众视野。
作为州众议员的塔拉里科将与州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿展开对决。帕克斯顿在初选 runoff 中击败了参议员约翰·科宁。总统唐纳德·特朗普在选举一周前为帕克斯顿背书，帮助他以超过27个百分点的优势击败科宁，但帕克斯顿的丑闻历史以及来自本党的批评，让民主党看到了塔拉里科击败他的希望。
如今，塔拉里科正为一场预计会异常激烈的大选做准备，他将成为帕克斯顿和特朗普的攻击目标——后者已承诺将到访得州为其助选。
共和党官员多次嘲讽他是“素食主义者”，尽管他并非如此，这是他们将塔拉里科描绘成得州主流之外人士的整体策略的一部分。但在一段2022年被挖出的视频中，他谈到美国人需要减少肉类消费，并吹嘘自己在得州众议院的竞选是一场“无肉竞选”。
以下是关于塔拉里科的其他值得了解的信息：
塔拉里科毫不掩饰自己的信仰。他是一名长老会神学院学生，正在努力成为一名按立牧师。
他曾援引自己的信仰来反驳共和党在得州的政策，包括一项要求在公立学校教室张贴十诫的法律。在一段走红的视频中，他称该法律“极具反基督教意味”。他还援引自己的信仰，抨击基督教民族主义——即认为美国应成为一个基督教国家的观点——以及对堕胎权的限制。
“我持有这种信念，并非不顾我的信仰，而是恰恰因为我的信仰，”塔拉里科在最近的一档播客中说道，“耶稣从未谈论过堕胎。圣经对堕胎只字未提。”
共和党人谴责塔拉里科将宗教与政治联系起来的做法。在帕克斯顿的初选之夜派对上，帕克斯顿的女婿丹尼尔·海沃斯带领祈祷，称塔拉里科“扭曲你的话语，亵渎你的名号”。
塔拉里科于2018年首次当选州众议员，随着其所在政党在社会问题上采取某些自由派立场而在政坛崛起，如今一些人对当时的立场感到后悔。在整个大选期间，塔拉里科都不得不应对当时的言论。
共和党已明确表示，他们将针对塔拉里科在2021年州议会辩论中声称现代科学认可六种性别的言论进行攻击。帕克斯顿及其支持者近日开始使用“六性别吉米”这个绰号。
再说说他的饮食问题。尽管他并非素食主义者，但帕克斯顿和特朗普已根据2022年的视频，反复指责他对肉类持敌视态度。
塔拉里科在周二的一场媒体活动中回击称，他“早在肯·帕克斯顿第一次被起诉前就一直在吃烧烤”。
他一直聚焦于亿万富翁和政治腐败
塔拉里科长期以来将竞选主题定为打击超级富豪和政治腐败。周二晚间，他迅速将这一主题指向帕克斯顿，称其为“美国最腐败的政客”。
但早在帕克斯顿成为共和党候选人之前，塔拉里科就已将铲除政治腐败作为竞选纲领。他希望取缔超级政治行动委员会和企业政治行动委员会、党派操纵选区划分以及国会议员股票交易行为。
在竞选活动中，塔拉里科认为政治领域最大的分歧并非左派与右派之间，而是“顶层与底层之间”。
塔拉里科不得不面对这样一个事实：一些亿万富翁向支持他的超级政治行动委员会捐款颇丰。在与众议员贾斯敏·克罗克特的初选中，他曾因这一矛盾受到党内批评。塔拉里科的盟友辩称，他支持竞选财务改革，但在共和党也依赖亿万富翁捐助者的情况下，他不会单方面解除武装。
尽管他自2018年以来就已任职，但塔拉里科在全国舞台上相对来说还是新人，在民主党要求更强硬政党姿态的当下，他将自己塑造成一位崭露头角的领导人。
塔拉里沃曾告诉其所在政党，“是时候掀翻桌子了”，这是《马太福音》中的又一处圣经典故。
但即使在当前的政治局势出现之前，塔拉里科就已公开批评过自己的政党。在乔·拜登担任总统期间，塔拉里科批评民主党领导人“胆小懦弱的陈词滥调”，并表示他们需要采取更多行动对抗“特朗普主义”。
尽管如此，他还是通过了党内初选，未回应一项党内试金石测试：他是否认为查克·舒默参议员应继续担任参议院民主党领袖。他曾表示，中期选举后，他会考虑所有领导层职位的候选人。
他与贝托·奥罗克有相似之处——也存在不同之处
许多民主党人还记得上次得克萨斯州参议院竞选的胶着局面，当时民主党众议员贝托·奥罗克以仅差3个百分点的微弱差距未能击败共和党参议员特德·克鲁兹。这一微弱优势助力得州下议院迎来了新一代民主党人，其中就包括塔拉里科。
塔拉里科和奥罗克有一些相似之处。与奥罗克2018年竞选时一样，塔拉里科正尽可能做到包容，并在周二晚间直接向科宁的支持者发出呼吁。“你们在我们的竞选活动中占有一席之地，”塔拉里科在X平台上写道。
但与奥罗克不同的是，奥罗克在2018年竞选对阵克鲁兹的最后几个月才积攒起势头，而塔拉里科早已巩固了自己作为严肃对手的地位。他在第一季度筹款2700万美元，远高于奥罗克2018年同期的筹款额，在模拟11月对决的民调中，他的支持率也接近科宁或帕克斯顿。
特朗普也曾热衷于击败奥罗克，如今他对塔拉里科也是如此。2018年大选前几周，特朗普到访休斯顿与克鲁兹一同参加集会，而他周三上午表示，他将“为肯举办几场精彩、盛大、漂亮的集会”。
What to know about James Talarico’s record and his past comments (no, he’s not vegan)
2026-05-27T15:43:49.865Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/27/politics/james-talarico-vegan-policy-positions
James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas, is back in the national spotlight after Republicans picked their standard-bearer for the race on Tuesday.
Talarico, a state representative, will face off against state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who defeated Sen. John Cornyn in a primary runoff. President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton a week out from the election and helped him defeat Cornyn by more than 27 percentage points — but Paxton’s history of scandals and criticism from within his own party has stirred Democratic hopes that Talarico can beat him.
Now, Talarico is gearing up for what is expected to be a bruising general election where he will be in the crosshairs of both Paxton and Trump, who has already promised to visit Texas to campaign against him.
GOP officials have mocked him repeatedly as a “vegan,” which he is not, as part of a broader strategy of painting him as outside the mainstream for Texas. But in an unearthed 2022 clip, he talked about the need for Americans to reduce their meat consumption and touted how he was running a “non-meat campaign” for the Texas House.
Here’s what else to know about Talarico:
Talarico wears his faith on his sleeve. He is a Presbyterian seminarian and working to become an ordained minister.
He’s cited his faith in making arguments against Republicans policies in Texas, including a law that requires the Ten Commandments to be posted in public school classrooms. He called it “deeply un-Christian” in a clip that has gone viral. He has also cited his faith to rail against Christian nationalism, or the idea that the United States should be a Christian country, and restricting abortion rights.
“That’s a belief I hold not despite my faith, but because of my faith,” Talarico said in a recent podcast. “Jesus never talks about abortion. The Bible is silent on abortion.”
Republicans have denounced Talarico’s efforts to connect religion to politics. At Paxton’s runoff night party, his son-in-law, Daniel Hayworth, led a prayer to God that said Talarico “twists your word and spits upon your name.”
Talarico was first elected to the state House in 2018 and rose politically as his party embraced certain liberal positions on social issues that some now regret. Talarico will have to grapple with comments from that time throughout the general election.
Republicans have already made clear they plan to target Talarico for asserting during a 2021 state legislative debate that modern science recognizes six sexes. Paxton and his supporters have taken to using the nickname “Six-Gender Jimmy” in recent days.
Then there is the issue of his diet. While he is not a vegan, Paxton and Trump have already repeatedly branded him as hostile to meat based on the 2022 clip.
Talarico shot back in a media appearance Tuesday, saying he has “been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment.”
He’s been focused on billionaires and corruption
Talarico has long centered his campaign on fighting the ultra-wealthy and corruption in politics. He quickly applied that theme to Paxton on Tuesday night, labeling him “the most corrupt politician in America.”
But even before Paxton became the GOP nominee, Talarico was running on a platform to root out corruption in politics. He wants to ban super PACs and corporate PACs, partisan gerrymandering and congressional stock trading.
On the campaign trail, Talarico has argued the biggest divide in politics is not between left and right but “top versus bottom.”
Talarico will have to contend with the fact that some billionaires have contributed heavily to a super PAC backing him. He faced intraparty criticism over that disconnect in his primary against Rep. Jasmine Crockett. Talarico’s allies have argued that he supports campaign finance reform but will not unilaterally disarm while Republicans also rely on billionaire donors.
While he’s been in office since 2018, Talarico is relatively new to the national stage and has pitched himself as a fresh-faced leader at a time when Democrats are demanding a more aggressive party.
Talarico has told his party that “it’s time to start flipping tables,” another biblical reference from the Gospel of Matthew.
But even before the current political moment, Talarico has spoken out against his party. When Joe Biden was president, Talarico criticized Democratic leaders for “spineless talking points” and said they needed to do more to fight “Trumpism.”
Still, he made it through his primary without answering one intraparty litmus test: whether he thinks Sen. Chuck Schumer should continue as Senate Democratic leader. He has said he would consider any candidate for the leadership position after the midterms.
He has some similarities – and differences – with Beto O’Rourke
Many Democrats remember the last close Senate election in Texas, when Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke came within 3 percentage points of unseating GOP Sen. Ted Cruz. That narrow margin helped usher in a new generation of Texas Democrats farther down the ballot, including Talarico.
Talarico and O’Rourke share some similarities. Like O’Rourke did in his 2018 campaign, Talarico is trying to be as inclusive as possible and made a direct appeal to Cornyn supporters on Tuesday night. “You have a place in our campaign,” Talarico wrote on X.
But unlike O’Rourke, who built momentum against Cruz in the final months of their race, Talarico has already cemented himself as a serious opponent. He raised $27 million in the first quarter, far more than O’Rourke did over the same period in 2018, and has run close to Cornyn or Paxton in polls testing hypothetical November matchups.
Trump also took a keen interest in defeating O’Rourke, like he is now doing with Talarico. Trump visited Houston for a rally with Cruz in the weeks before the 2018 election, while he said Wednesday morning that he will “do some nice, big, beautiful rallies for Ken.”