I remember Texas being a "purple" state, even as recently as 30 years ago. It was a one-party Democrat state from Reconstruction into the 1970s. And while Ann Richards was the last Democrat governor in 1994, Democrats controlled the state legislature and the US House delegation from Reconstruction until 2002.
And like the glory days Springsteen sang about, Democrats nationwide have kept the notion of turning Texas blue out in front of them for most of the past quarter-century. Every cycle comes a new great Democrat hope, and the (so far) fever dream of reasserting their own "good old days" in the Lone Star State.
This year's standing for Beto O'Rourke is Jamest Talarico - the "moderate", "Christian" candidate who'd seem to be a sign that Democrats think that running a Ned Flanders doppelganger is the shortcut to winning back the evangelicals that've pretty much gone to the GOP and stayed.
Because his whole approach to Christianity seems, well, more suited to a tony neighborhood in Brooklyn or Cambridge or San Francisco than Texas:
Talarico has made a name for himself by trying to say that those who follow Christianity the way believers have practiced it for two millennia are subverting the faith in the name of a “Christian nationalist agenda.” However, as I wrote earlier this month, “Of course, the truth is that Talarico is the one distorting Christianity. He has twisted scripture, practiced eisegesis (which is reading one’s own meaning into a biblical text — and in Talarico’s case, bringing his own agenda into scripture) to claim that the Bible says what it doesn’t, and even preached from heretical, false Gnostic texts to paper a far-left agenda over Christianity.”
Just when you think Tallerico's theology has hit rock bottom...
— MaryfromMarin (@MaryfromMarin) June 23, 2026
Meet James Talarico’s 'TransQueer,' 'Latinx' Theology, Umm, Bro https://t.co/JPpHBkZhkK
.#ccot #tcot @PubliusNV @MikeProof @wombat_socho
The long shot may have just gotten a lot longer:
🚨 UNEARTHED
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 23, 2026
In an interview with a self-described “TransQueer” activist theologian, Texas Democrat James Talarico says he "hates" Christianity:
"I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity.” pic.twitter.com/wFEONx03CW
"I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity, right?" Talarico said on the show, describing himself as a "boring, straight, cis, white male" who believes he's uniquely positioned to bring "moral clarity" to politics. Christians who hate Christianity aren't exactly the demographic Texas Democrats need to flip a Senate seat in a state where, according to Pew Research, nearly half the population identifies as evangelical Protestant or Catholic.
The podcast host doesn't help his case either. Roberto Che Henderson-Espinoza, formerly known as Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, identifies as a "nonbinary, transgender, Latinx theologian on the autistic spectrum" and once taught "Queer Theory and Theology" at Duke Divinity School. Espinoza authored an academic paper proposing "transing religion" as a method to dismantle what the paper called the "(hetero)norm of binaries," and once preached a sermon in a Black Lives Matter vest declaring the Bible "trans-positive." Espinoza asked the congregation to "mobilize darkness in the face of the deep as part of the creative process that is trans-inclusive and trans-positive." Make no mistake about it, this is not mainstream Texas theology.
Talarico's numbers aren't looking too bad at the moment. But even against a problematic candidate like Ken Paxton, he's down a point with a lot of weak signs, in a poll taken before this latest jape went public.
UT/Texas Politics Project poll | 6/5-6/12 RV
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) June 23, 2026
US Senate Texas 2026 (crosstabs)
🟥Overall: Paxton +1 (43-42)
🟦Democrats: Talarico +87 (88-1)
🟥Republicans: Paxton +79 (84-5)
🟦Independents: Talarico +28 (40-12)
🟥White: Paxton +20 (53-33)
🟦Black: Talarico +54 (67-13)… https://t.co/WQZjgPjLde pic.twitter.com/MXzKUeRNJS
As Glenn Reynolds advises, there are four and a half months to go, so don't get cocky.
