James Talarico James Talarico has represented District 50 in the Texas House since 2018.

“There are some issues where I'm a little more conservative, some issues where I'm a little moderate, some issues where I'm a little more progressive. And I always try to do what I think is best, even if it's bucking my own party to do it. … If I was to give a label for myself, I would call myself a Texas Democrat.”

The Jamie Kern Lima Show · May 2026

Context

James Talarico in a May 2026 interview on The Jamie Kern Lima Show, asked whether he is a centrist, a progressive or a socialist.

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Transcript

The Jamie Kern Lima Show Around 47:45 into the episode

James Talarico

And it is strong. I've had so many people trying to figure out where to, how to label me.

Jamie Kern Lima

Yes.

James Talarico

And we do that to each other. And we do it as a shorthand. And I think it's part of what flattens us because the honest truth is, and I'm sure your family members would agree, we have all these things inside of us, right? There are some issues where I'm a little more conservative, some issues where I'm a little moderate, some issues where I'm a little more progressive. And I always try to do what I think is best, even if it's bucking my own party to do it. And I've done that a bunch of times in the Texas legislature. And so, you know, I think about in our faith tradition, the tree that Adam and Eve ate from was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And it's that dualistic thinking. It's the trying to make things black or white, this or that, that gets us in so much trouble in our politics. And it's what I'm trying to avoid as much as I can in…

Jamie Kern Lima

Holding LBJ's Senate seat makes me think about how right now, anybody who Googles you, they will see comparisons all over online with people comparing you to JFK, people talking about how impactful some of your talks are and how moving they are. When you see, and there's influencers doing…

James Talarico

I think it just reveals a hunger for someone under the age of 80 to run for office. You know, I love our senior lawmakers and legislators, but I do think people, especially in the Democratic Party, are hungry for a new generation to step up. And that's what we saw in the Kennedys. That's what we…

Jamie Kern Lima

Well, we're going to dive into all the hot topics. There's so much coming up, especially on some of your most widely debated issues. But one thing I love to do on this show is really dive into sort of the story behind the story and who the person really truly is. And I really want to get to know…

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.

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