James Talarico Tells Supporter He’ll ‘Always’ ‘Fight for Trans Kids’ in New Video

Talarico, under fire for seemingly walking back some of his support for trans rights, recently promised to “fight for trans kids” and stressed that his pro-trans positions “haven’t changed.”

Talarico would be the first Democrat to represent Texas in the Senate since 1993 | Image: Talarico for Texas

Since appearing on Fox News a few weeks ago, Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico has been harshly criticized over a pair of comments he made regarding trans rights. “I will oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it risks safety or fairness,” he told the network during the televised interview, adding a bit later that he’d “absolutely” vote for a national ban on what his interviewer called ‘transgender surgeries’ for minors. What procedures Talarico considers to be ‘transgender surgeries’ is not clear. When pressed on the latter position, however, he explicitly stated that he stood by his vote against 2023 Texas Senate Bill 14, which he called ‘overly broad.’

Nevertheless, many LGBTQ+ supporters felt betrayed by his comments. After all, Talarico had won them over through his promises to bring a more inclusive form of Christianity to Texas politics, and now, it seemed as though he was looking to shy away from that inclusivity once it became politically inconvenient. He certainly wouldn’t be the first: in recent months, Marcy Kaptur and Amy Acton of Ohio, Rob Sand, Josh Turek, and Sarah Trone Garriott of Iowa, Blake Gendebien of New York, and Mary Peltola of Alaska, as well as Colin Allred, the Texas Democrat who ran for Senate in 2024, have all turned on trans people in one way or another.

For example, Kaptur, who is running for reelection in Ohio’s 9th district, released an ad saying she’d “voted with Republicans to keep transgender ideology out of schools.” Garriott, who is hoping to flip Iowa’s 3rd district, ran an ad telling voters that she “opposes letting men in women’s locker rooms.” Although some other Democrats have limited their flip-flopping to opposition to so-called “men in girls’ sports,” many supporters were hoping Talarico—who is looking to be the first Democrat to win statewide since 1994—would be different.

Last week, while speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Talarico attempted to clarify what he’d said during the Fox News interview, telling the crowd that he still stood by his 2021 vote against Texas’ ban on trans athletes and that his position was “exactly the same.” Instead, he argued that policies on the issue should allow trans athletes to participate on a case-by-case basis. This is a similar position to that adopted by Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger during her election last year, and recently, it was reported that she did away with her state’s restrictions for trans athletes.

Talarico also added that he’d “stand up to politicians who bully students, who bully kids to score political points.”

Now, Talarico has provided yet another indication that his support has not waned. Earlier today, his opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, released a video, seemingly taken by a Republican operative—who posed as a Talarico supporter and said she had a trans niece—at a recent campaign stop. When asked if he could be ‘counted on to support’ the apparently fictitious niece, Talarico simply replied: “Always.”

“The way I fought for trans kids in the legislature,” he continued, “is how I will fight for [them] in the U.S. Senate.” Like before, he told her that his “position hasn’t changed” and that he “still thinks these should be local decisions.”

“I know things are getting clipped and stuff, but my position hasn’t changed, and I’m gonna have your loved one’s back,” he concluded.

See the full exchange here:

Of course, Paxton’s campaign is already using the video to attack Talarico. That isn’t new: over the past few months, Paxton and his allies have spent upwards of $100 million on the race, and most of that money has gone towards anti-trans ads. In fact, that appears to be the GOP’s main line of attack against him, with figures like Vice President JD Vance, Texas’ other senator Ted Cruz, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and President Trump himself all working to desperately characterize Talarico as a pro-trans extremist.

And it isn’t working: Paxton hasn’t led in an independent poll since mid-August, and according to poll aggregator FiftyPlusOne, Talarico currently leads the race by 3 points. Nate Silver’s model puts that lead slightly higher, at 3.6 points. That advantage is only growing.

It should also be mentioned that Ken Paxton’s own record on trans issues is simply appalling. As I wrote earlier this month, Paxton is likely the single most dangerous anti-trans Republican in the country, and his extreme actions—which include denying trans kids access to talk therapy and mental health support services, as well as trying to take trans kids away from their families—have brought tremendous suffering to Texan trans kids.

In Texas, Talarico stands in sharp contrast to Paxton’s extremism. Unlike other Democrats in close races, he’s refused to run anti-trans ads or adopt the bigoted Republican framing on trans people in sports and bathrooms. And he’s certainly the only Democrat in these races who’s said he has a favorite drag queen.

But most importantly, he’s now made a promise that many other Democrats have thus far avoided: to fight for trans kids where it matters most.