After reversal on boys playing in girls' sports, Talarico warns Hispanic voters not to 'trust anything a politician promises'

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rep. James Talarico told members of the Hispanic business community that Texas voters should ignore campaign promises and instead judge candidates by their records, even as he faces backlash for changing his stance on boys participating in girls’ sports.

In a virtual appearance Wednesday with the United States Hispanic Business Council (USHBC) as part of its “In Dialogue: Texas” series, the 36-year-old Talarico told the panel he was speaking remotely after being diagnosed with the flu and ordered to isolate in Dallas.

“I’m running a fever and I'm my most contagious right now,” he said. “I guess I've been shaking too many hands on the campaign trail.”

Highlighting his legislative record, the four-term state lawmaker who represents Austin and parts of Pflugerville pointed to the 60 bipartisan bills he helped pass in the Texas House. Those measures, he said, cut property taxes for small businesses, lowered the cost of housing and prescription drugs, raised teacher pay and improved public education. He also highlighted his refusal to accept corporate PAC money.

“I’m not going to go to Washington to represent the Democratic Party. I have no interest in that. I’m going to Washington to represent all 31 million Texans,” Talarico said. “So I will always put Texas above any political party.”

Talarico, an eighth-generation Texan and former sixth-grade teacher on San Antonio’s West Side, framed his public service around the Christian commandment to “love your neighbor.” He said teaching in one of the state’s poorest ZIP codes, where he once had 45 students in a single classroom, pushed him into politics.

“My granddad always specified that that second commandment had no exceptions. There were no qualifications,” said Talarico. “I was supposed to love all of my neighbors. Not just my neighbors who look like me, not just my neighbors who speak the same language that I speak. Not just my neighbors who pray like I do, and go to the kind of church that I go to. I'm called to love all of my neighbors the way I love myself. And that commandment is what motivated me to go into public service.”

When asked whether he would commit to working with lawmakers across the aisle if elected, Talarico advised the audience against believing a candidate’s campaign promises over his voting record and pledged to work on behalf of all Texans.

“You shouldn’t ever trust anything a politician promises in an election cycle. You should look and trust what a politician has already done in their time in office,” Talarico said. “The best indicator of future behavior is past behavior.”

His comments come nearly one month after Talarico softened his stance on trans-identified male athletes being allowed to compete in girls' sports and “sex reassignment” surgeries for minors. 

In a Sept. 9 interview with Fox News, Talarico said he now opposes boys who identify as girls competing against female athletes.

“Every sport has to be safe and fair,” he said. “As a former public school teacher, I care a lot about our student athletes; I care a lot about our students. And so, I will oppose [male] athletes playing in girls’ sports if it risks safety or fairness.”

It’s a marked reversal for Talarico, who voted in 2021 against a Republican-led ban on boys competing in girls' sporting events.