The Facade of James Talarico

By Easton Martin

Newly released undercover footage shows a minister at Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico’s home church admitting that the candidate’s recent pivot toward moderate cultural positions is merely an act designed to deceive voters ahead of the November election.

The video, published Wednesday by The Daily Wire, captures Rev. Babs Miller of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin explaining that Talarico’s campaign advised him to conceal his progressive record on transgender policies. Miller stated that Talarico plans to revert to his left-wing stances the moment he secures office.

”I can guarantee you that once he gets elected, he’ll change his tune back to where he was,” Miller told an undercover reporter. Miller confirmed that Talarico’s staff urged him to step back from contentious social stances for the remainder of the race. “That’s what his campaign has convinced him of,” she added, describing the shift as advice to “play this game” until election day.

Talarico, a state representative running against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, recently attempted to rebrand himself for general election voters. In television appearances, Talarico claimed he would “absolutely” support a national ban on gender transition surgeries for minors and voiced opposition to biological males competing in girls’ sports.

His legislative record contradicts that rhetoric. In 2023, Talarico voted against Texas Senate Bill 14, which barred experimental transgender surgeries and hormone treatments for minors. Two years earlier, he opposed legislation requiring public school athletes to compete according to their biological sex.

Miller also affirmed Talarico’s past declaration that “God is non-binary,” a theological claim that has drawn intense scrutiny across the state.