Inside Texas Politics — Full Interview on previous U.S. Senate races with James Talarico

[0:00] Representative, good to see you here. [0:01] Good to see you. [0:02] Democrats regularly do well in the metro areas. [0:05] Republicans always pick up the votes [0:07] in the rural areas of the state, [0:09] and there are a lot of those. [0:10] Do you think you've done enough to get out the vote [0:12] in those areas here as early voting begins? [0:14] Yes, we've been showing up in small towns [0:16] around the state, in rural communities. [0:18] We've got volunteers and organizers [0:21] in every community across the state, [0:22] including in rural Texas. [0:24] And most importantly, we've been speaking to the issues [0:26] that our neighbors out in rural Texas are facing. [0:29] We've been talking about these tariffs [0:31] that are driving up input costs for farmers and ranchers. [0:35] We've been talking about the rising price of diesel, [0:38] which is really hurting folks out in rural Texas. [0:41] We talked about the closure of rural schools [0:43] and rural hospitals and the need to have a senator [0:46] who will actually fight for rural Texas. [0:48] That's the kind of senator I want to be. [0:50] Can you win, though, November the 3rd [0:51] without a significant chunk of rural Texas? [0:54] No, and nor do I want to. [0:56] I want to win with the support of urban Texas, [0:59] both suburban Texas and rural Texas. [1:01] I'm frankly tired of us being pitted against each other. [1:05] We are all Texans. [1:06] We have shared problems, we have shared dreams, [1:09] and we need a senator who's going to represent [1:11] all 31 million Texans, [1:12] no matter what part of the state they live in. [1:14] Republicans are telling voters [1:15] that you're much more liberal [1:17] than you have portrayed yourself here. [1:19] What do you think is the single issue [1:21] that voters might misunderstand about you? [1:23] I hope people look at my record in the State House. [1:25] That is more than anything I'm going to say on the trail, [1:28] certainly more than anything our opponents are going to say, [1:31] is looking at my record. [1:33] That's how you're going to learn [1:34] what kind of senator I'm going to be. [1:36] Is there one issue, though, you think is getting traction [1:38] on the right that you'd like to clarify? [1:40] Well, you know, over those four terms, [1:42] I've worked with Republicans. [1:44] I worked with folks on the far right [1:45] to actually deliver from my constituents. [1:47] I passed 60 bipartisan bills through the legislature, [1:50] bills that lower people's costs, [1:52] the cost of housing, the cost of childcare, [1:54] the cost of prescription drugs, including insulin. [1:57] And so that's how I'm going to lead in the Senate. [1:58] I'm going to work with Ted Cruz. [1:59] I'm going to work with Republicans to get stuff done [2:02] because that's what I've always done. [2:03] And Texas Monthly, as you know, in my second term, [2:07] named me one of the top 10 legislators in Texas [2:10] because of that bipartisan work ethic. [2:13] And so I would ask people to judge me on my record, [2:15] not judge me based on the lies that are being told [2:18] by the Republican super PACs. [2:20] How much did your campaign look at the 2018 run [2:22] from Beto O'Rourke? [2:24] And if so, what did you learn from that? [2:25] Because already you're doing things that he did not do, [2:28] even though both of you are dynamic Democrats [2:32] we haven't seen in the past. [2:33] Yeah, and every candidate who runs, frankly, [2:35] in both parties has something to teach us. [2:38] What did you learn from Beto? [2:39] I think the excitement that Congressman O'Rourke [2:42] generated across the state, especially among young people, [2:45] is certainly something that we want to try to replicate. [2:49] But even when Senator Cruz first ran against David Dewhurst, [2:53] he showed how a grassroots outsider campaign [2:57] can beat the establishment. [2:59] So I take inspiration from great candidates, [3:03] no matter what party they're in. [3:05] What specifically has to happen November the 3rd [3:08] for you to pull off something that no Democrat has done [3:10] in more than 30 years? [3:11] Well, you know, I said when I first launched this campaign [3:14] that the real fight in this country is not left versus right, [3:17] it's top versus bottom. [3:18] And so what's gonna need to happen is working people [3:22] across the partisan spectrum, across racial divides, [3:26] religious divides, cultural divides, geographic divides, [3:29] working people are gonna have to unite by November 3rd [3:32] to take on the most corrupt politician in Texas [3:35] and take on this entire corrupt system. [3:38] And if that happens, we're gonna be successful [3:40] and we're gonna make very real change [3:42] for working people in our state. [3:43] As you look back over this representative, [3:45] this campaign here, [3:46] do you think that you've just struck a nerve? [3:49] Do you think the economy's in a place [3:51] that you've been able to really drive home a message? [3:53] Or do you think you just have a Republican candidate [3:56] who might not be as strong as others have in the past? [3:58] I think our campaign has been building momentum [4:00] since September of last year, [4:01] long before Ken Paxton was the Republican nominee. [4:04] And it's because we are speaking [4:06] to the actual problems that people face. [4:08] We're talking about the cost of groceries, [4:10] the cost of gas, the cost of healthcare. [4:13] We're talking about a rigged economic system [4:15] that no longer rewards hard work, [4:17] where the middle class is disappearing. [4:19] It's been disappearing for 50 years in this country [4:21] because billionaires have bought our government. [4:23] They've bought our politicians. [4:24] They've bought people like Ken Paxton [4:26] who turn around and screw us over every chance they get. [4:30] So we've been speaking to that for more than a year now. [4:32] And I think it's resonating with people [4:33] across the political spectrum. [4:35] Because again, the real fight is not red versus blue. [4:38] It's all of us working people [4:40] against the corrupt people at the very top [4:42] who have been screwing us over for decades now. [4:44] Closing message to voters here [4:46] as we close in on the election, what is it? [4:48] We have an opportunity to change how we do politics [4:52] in this race, in this state, in this year. [4:54] I am tired of being pitted against my neighbor. [4:57] I'm tired of being told to hate my neighbor. [4:59] I'm tired of the algorithms and the cable news networks [5:01] that are tearing us apart for the profit [5:03] of a handful of billionaires. [5:05] And so we have an opportunity to build a new kind of politics [5:08] where we bring people together [5:10] instead of dividing folks in our state. [5:13] And so I am hopeful for what we're gonna be able to do [5:17] in this election and then what we're gonna be able to do [5:19] for the people of Texas in the United States Senate. [5:22] Representative, good luck. [5:23] Thank you. [5:24] Thank you. [5:25] Thank you.