James Talarico Addresses Capitalism, Transgender Athletes in Texas Senate race

At a campaign event last week, United States Senate candidate James Talarico (D-TX) clarified his position on capitalism and transgender athletes in youth sports.

In a conversation with The Texas Tribune Editor-In-Chief Matthew Watkins, Talarico addressed several points of controversy his opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX), and other Republicans have continued to raise in campaigns against him.

With the rise of democratic socialism, some have grouped Talarico in with this political movement, but he said he is a capitalist, not a socialist.

“I’m a capitalist,” he said. “I believe in free enterprise, I believe in competition, I believe in free markets and growth.”

However, Talarico added that he does not view our current economic system as a capitalist one, arguing that it primarily benefits people wealthy enough to buy political access and influence.

“This system only works for those who can afford to buy politicians like Ken Paxton who can afford to buy access and control,” Talarico said. “This is not capitalism, this is crony capitalism.”

This position is reflected in the local state representative’s policies he’s emphasized in his campaign platform, including lowering the cost of housing, child care and prescription drugs like insulin.

But Talarico was also confronted about his stance on transgender athletes. In 2021, Talarico voted against a bill that would restrict transgender students from competing on sports teams of the gender identity they’d transitioned to.

“My position is exactly the same,” he said. “The reason I opposed that bill is because it was a blanket statewide ban without any appreciation for nuance.”

Talarico said he supported an amendment to the bill to allow local education and sports officials to evaluate the safety and fairness of participation on an “athlete-by-athlete, sport-by-sport basis” and ensure safety and fairness for young athletes.

“That has always been my North Star, and it’s going to continue to be my North Star,” Talarico said. “I’m also always going to stand up to politicians who bully students, who bully kids to score political points.”

Talarico also pointed to the Republicans and conservative evangelical pastors questioning his faith due to his vote against this bill.

“My faith teaches me that every child is made in the image of God,” he said.