Texas State Rep. James Talarico Released a Spanish Campaign Ad for the First Time

In January 2026, Texas State Rep. James Talarico released a campaign ad in his bid for the Democratic spot in the U.S. Senate election in Texas in November 2026. In March 2026, he won the primary election, placing him in the seat against the Republican candidate. While some wonder if he won the primary because of that ad, others want to know if James Talarico can actually speak Spanish or not.

The ad, which is still available on YouTube, featured multiple Spanish-speaking voices who explain why Talarico is a smart choice for voters. The focus of the ad is education, which, the video explains, Talarico has fought for as an educator himself and as a politician. The ad ends with Talarico saying, in Spanish, "I'm James Talarico, and I approve this message."

Years before Talarico put out the campaign ad that was entirely in Spanish, he proved that he does know some Spanish, even if English is his first language. In 2019, he posted a video on Facebook of himself being interviewed by a Spanish-speaking reporter for Univision 62. He wrote in the caption, "My Spanish may be a little rusty, but I want to make sure all my constituents — no matter what language they speak — can hear from me directly."

In the video, James speaks to the reporter in Spanish and admits his Spanish isn't great, but he answers the questions about his position on education and his plans for the state. Since then, apparently, he continued to work on his Spanish and focus on Spanish-speaking Texans.

And, for what it's worth, Talarico claims to be a big Bad Bunny fan. The Spanish-speaking singer, who primarily sings and raps in Spanish, performed his Super Bowl halftime in his native language, and at the time, Talarico spoke highly of the artist.

"Bad Bunny, one of my favorite artists, put on one of the best Super Bowl halftime shows of all time," Talarico told a crowd of Texans in a video posted on his Instagram.

Typically, Republican politicians lean on their faith as a talking point in their campaigns. For Talarico, who is a Democrat, his Christian religion is a surprising part of his campaign. Talarico's website describes him as a "Presbyterian seminarian," which is someone who is studying to become a minister.

Talarico's mother also grew up in religion. She was, per his website, the daughter of a preacher. Religion appears to be a big part of Talarico's life still, but his focus on education and taking the country back from Washington, D.C., is the crux of his work as a politician in Texas.

"I first ran for the Texas House in 2018 to fight for my constituents, people like my mom and my students," he wrote on his website. "It was a district no one thought we could win, but together we flipped a district Donald Trump had won just two years earlier."