The Keith Edwards Show - Liberal Pastor Stuns Texas with Shock Announcement

Episode Date: September 9, 2025

In this exclusive interview, Keith Edwards discusses with James Talarico—a Texas state representative, pastor, former public school teacher, and rising Democratic star—his launch of a U.S. Senate bid for 2026. Talarico has gained viral attention for challenging Christian nationalism, preaching progressive Christian values, and landing high-profile appearances including Joe Rogan’s podcast. Their conversation zeroes in on sharp strategic questions: Can a liberal pastor win a Democratic primary in Texas? If he does, what is the path to victory in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat statewide since 1994?  Keith and James also explore how faith and progressive politics can reinforce—not contradict—each other. Talarico argues that religious conviction need not exclude commitment to justice, equity, and democratic values. The discussion culminates with Keith highlighting what he sees as Talarico’s most radical act—one grounded not in fringe politics, but in moral leadership worth emulating.Become a Member: https://www.youtube.com/@keithedwards/joinSubscribe to my Substack: http://keithedwards.substack.comBuy a Democracy Hat: https://keithsdebateclub.com/products/democracy-hatCall me and ask a question or leave a comment: ‪[phone]‬Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thekeithedwardsshow/Follow me on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/keithedwards.bsky.socialFollow me on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@keithedwardsFollow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keithedwards/Follow me on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@keithedwardsFollow me on X: http://twitter.com/keithedwards

By now, you probably know James Tolariko. And if you don't, here's a refresher. He's the liberal pastor in Texas state representative who seems to go viral every other week, whether it's challenging Christian nationalism on the House floor, quoting scripture to defend reproductive rights, or calling out Republican extremism with moral clarity. And now he's launched his bid for the United States Senate. And he's today's guest.

But can a liberal pastor make it pass a Democratic primary in Texas? And if he can, how does a Democrat actually win statewide in a place where it hasn't been done in decades? We also talk about how being a Democrat and being a person of faith do not have to be exclusive. And I tell him what I think his most radical moment has been and why it's something we can all learn from. Here he is. James Talariko. I'm just so excited you're here. It's a long time coming. And on what a great day for your first appearance on the chance.

is that you are running for U.S. Senate in Texas. Can you tell me all about that, why you're running? That's right. I'm super happy to be here and such a fan of the work that you do and an honor to be invited to join you here. And I'm running for the U.S. Senate seat here in Texas because Texans desperately need a U.S. senator who will represent them and not their billionaire mega donors.

And unfortunately, Ken Paxton and John Cornyn have shown that they will only do the bidding of the billionaires and will not work for the people. And so that's why I'm running to bring people together and fight for everyday Texans in the halls of power in Washington. Yeah. And I, you know, I've shared this before. I'm going to talk about it now while you're here because it's more exciting to talk about it with you than about you. But you have said this great line where like you're focused, everyone's focused. on the wrong one percent. Republicans want us focused on trans people, Muslims, immigrants, all to avoid us from focusing on the actual people who are making it worse for average Americans and average Texans, and that's the billionaires. It's exactly right. I've said before that the only minority destroying America is the billionaires. They're the ones who are defunding

our schools, gutting our health care, cutting taxes for themselves and their rich friends while they to raise taxes on working class and middle class people. And so that's where our attention needs to be, not on those 1% of the population that have no power. And so I'm hoping that in this election, we can come together across all of these divisions, party, race, gender, religion, and take power back for ourselves and our communities. And that's one of the primary reasons that I'm getting into this race. Well, I want to focus on religion in just a moment because I think you represent a really exciting strain of blue. But before we get to that, I think a question everyone's going to ask, and I'm sure you're going to be asked all the time.

And I was around when Beto ran in, I think it was 2018. You know, I donated 20 bucks. And I was like, oh, my God, it could happen. It could happen. And it didn't. And we have failed to get a statewide. in Texas. And I guess the question is, like, how can you do what others have not been able to do, which is be a Democrat who wins statewide in Texas?

It's a great question. And I felt the same excitement in Beto's 2018 campaign, as did a lot of people across the state of Texas, Democrats and Republicans alike. And you're right, he didn't get over the finish line, but he got closer than any Democrat has gotten in Texas since Ann Richards in the early 90s. And he got within two and a half points of a Republican senator. And that was in a Trump midterm. We're about to enter the second Trump midterm that we've ever seen in Texas. And so I'm hopeful that if we can generate the same excitement, the same energy, if we can go everywhere and talk to everyone, if we can run a campaign that's different,

that's going to transcend some of the boundaries and divisions that have been put in place in our politics, then we can do the thing Beto couldn't, which was finally break through and change the politics of this state, which I'll just say as a native Texan, as an eighth-generation Texan, we desperately need better politics in our state. We've been suffering under Republican extremism for 30 years now. I have constituents who have schools that are closing in their neighborhood because of Republican extremism. I've got constituents who can't access basic health care because of Republicans' failure to expand Medicaid in our state. I've got constituents who suffered during that winter blackout because Republicans couldn't fix the grid and keep the lights on. And so we desperately need better elected officials and better leadership in our state.

I hope that if I'm given the honor of serving as our U.S. senator, I can provide some of that better leadership for the people of Texas. And I just want to put a pin up, but when we say like Republican extremism, we're talking about elected Republicans because I think what you're going to need to do is win over some folks who typically do vote for Republicans. And I think I think one of the things I'm excited about with you and what you represent is that for, I don't know when this happened or why this happened, but it seems like many, like the Democratic establishment or those that people think the Democrats represent have kind of let go of religion and spirituality and a belief in something greater than ourselves and what you so what's so exciting about you for me as someone who prays i'm not christian i was

telling you before we started recording i'm not christian i'm a person of faith i do pray every day um i believe in something greater than myself and you represent what a democrat can look like who represents that faith doesn't have to mean also, you know, attacking or like disparaging other groups of people. That's exactly right. You know, as a Christian, I was brought up to follow Jesus's two commandments, which are love God and love neighbor. And that second one isn't limited to people who look like me or people who,

pray like me or people who vote like me, I am called to love all of my neighbors as myself, because my neighbors want the same things I do. Again, regardless of race or gender or party or religion, all of us want safe neighborhoods, good jobs, quality, public schools, and the ability to see a doctor when we need one. That's common across all communities and all Texans. And the reason that we can't seem to come together on those key priorities is because those billionaires we talked about at the beginning of the call intentionally divide us. Their social media algorithms, their cable news networks, they tear us apart every single day in this country. It's the oldest strategy in the world, divide and conquer. But Texans aren't going to be conquered. I do believe

that in this year, people are ready to come together across all of these lines that divide us to finally take power back for ourselves, our families, our neighbors, and our communities. And that's exactly why I'm getting in this race. My faith is my foundation. It's what motivates my public service as a middle school teacher, as a state representative, and now as a candidate for U.S. Senator. You know, do you want to know one of the most radical things I think you've ever said? And is that you said, and I was like, damn, that is, that is, you said, you said, you said, Donald Trump is a child of God.

And I was like, A, true. And B, why, like, why is it that it's so hard for us to kind of offer that sort of unlimited, I don't even know what you would call it. What would you call that? Like, what would you call that calling him a child of God? Because I think it is an important thing to have, I don't know. I don't know how you explain what that is, but there's something about that, to me, feels profound. Well, the ancient Greeks would call that agape. The Greeks in the ancient world had different

kinds of love that they described. There was romantic love that you have for a partner, a spouse. There's friendship love that you have for your buddies. And then there's divine love, which is sacrificial, it's unconditional, it's infinite. It's the love that a parent has for their child. It's the love that God has for all people, regardless of race or party or gender or religion. And we are called to embody that kind of divine, sacrificial, parental love every day with everyone. And that's hard to do, right? It's easier to do it when it's your kid or your parent or a family member or a close friend. or even your next door neighbor that you know and see every day and who's probably more like you than other people, it's harder to extend that divine love to every single person, particularly

people who aren't like you, particularly people who you would consider your enemy, right? As a Christian, I'm called to love my enemies. And that's tremendously difficult to do. It's difficult to love someone like President Trump. but as a Christian I am called to love him as myself and we can't lose sight of that in our politics that has to be the North Star in everything we do in our civic discourse yeah because if you can if you can extend that love to him

then that to me means that you can extend that love to people who don't vote for you or who might not think that you want they want you to be their leader because you're looking out for them the same way you'd be looking out for your child Exactly right. And it's the most radical thing you can do. It's so radical. It's the most drunk rock thing you could do is love your enemies. And we oftentimes are talking about how we win this game of American democracy. But this American democracy of ours is deeply broken. It's deeply corrupt. It is rigged from top to bottom. So we can't win this game. We have to change this game. And the way you change this game is you, refuse to be divided from your neighbor. You refuse to be pitted against your neighbor. You refuse to hate your neighbor. Again, those billionaires that control our media, control our politics, they count on us hating each other. They count on us being divided. And so the most revolutionary

thing you can do is refuse to play into those divisions. Again, I think it's going to be the foundation of this campaign. I hope that we can create a model here in Texas. of a different kind of politics, not a politics of hate or a politics of division, but a politics of love. Well, but I mean, you're still going to have to run like attack ads, right? Like, I mean, right? Like, I don't think. Here's, it's a great question, actually. One, you know, in a Democratic primary, I'm going to be making a positive case for what I have to offer because these are my teammates. And any of the people running would be a much better U.S. senator than you're not going negative in the primary. No, of course not. No. But in the general election, I'm not interested in attack ads,

but I am interested in prosecuting the case. And people have seen me do that on the floor of the Texas House. They've seen me in committee or on the House floor debating these critical issues and making my arguments in a passionate way. But you can do that without dehumanizing your opponent. You can do that while still honoring the divine image that that person bears. And that will be true if I am fortunate enough to be the nominee going into this general election. I'm going to prosecute the case. I'm going to make my argument forcefully and vigorously and passionately. But I refuse to dehumanize the folks on the other side of the aisle, including John Corrin or Ken Paxton. They are my siblings at the end of the day, if you believe

that we're all children of God. And I do. And so there's a way to walk this line. where you make your argument, you win the debate, but you don't tear someone down or rob them of their humanity in the process. Yeah, well, I'm going to hold you that because I do think it's okay to tell the truth, but if, but I would like to see a different type of, that would be really cool to see a different type of campaign and see how that does. You know, I think that's, I think you're like, I think there's all big, it's all kind of big test case, you know, like can a Democrat be super religious and also get liberal votes because I think also the liberals are like, they can be like, well, if you believe in religion, you can't believe in science.

How can those two things coexist? It's like, actually, you can be a person of faith and you can also trust vaccines and math and science and all that sort of stuff. Correct. Those are not mutually exclusive. And, you know, in fact, some of those beautiful writings about God and religion and mysticism are from, people like Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientific minds in our generation. And he had this great line, Albert Einstein, that there are two ways to live your life. One is though nothing is a miracle.

The other is though everything is a miracle. And I can't think of a better description of the religious life than living as though everything around you and everyone around you is a miracle. And in my opinion, it's a better way to live. And it's, it just so happens to be true. I mean, it also is true. How are we here? You know, like to not to get too profound on this show, but it, there is a, there is a

miraculousness to how this all is happening. It might not feel it sometimes under the Trump administration. But if you zoom out, it can't, there is, there is a miracle like quality to the fact that this is all happening, that we are here being able to experience it. And I just have to say, if you're watching this, I don't know if I have any, but there are people I don't like. Pray for your enemies. It helps. Because the only person feeling that hate, Donald Trump's never going to feel your hate. Right. You're going to feel it. So if you can try to alleviate some of that, you're really the only person feeling the negative

energy of yourself. So and I just want to, I want to. Oh, go ahead. What you said? It tears you apart. It corrods your own heart. And we're going to need those hearts if we're going to get through all of this. That has to be the thing that we trust and we depend upon and we follow. And if you allow hate, if you allow some of that vitriol to get into your own heart, it does a lot of damage. And so I completely agree with you. The other thing I think, recognizing this profound mystery, this profound miracle that we're all participating in, regardless of our spirituality or our religions, it should inspire all us to be humble because it is a mystery. Scripture says no one has seen God.

And so that's why I always just think religious supremacy is a little silly when we all start, you know, trying to say our approach to the mystery is better than other approaches to the mystery. It doesn't really make sense, in my opinion. And it's why I've pushed back against religious supremacy in my own faith, Christian nationalism. But religious supremacy and sectarianism of all kinds. I think we need more interfaith dialogue. I think we need more respect in these conversations. And we certainly need to preserve that sacred separation of church and state in this country, something that's been eroded over the past few decades by those on the far right.

Well, that's interesting that you're saying that as a Christian. Because wouldn't you, I guess, yeah, because you're thinking, I guess you're thinking is like just every, why do you want to separate church and state if your Christians are winning the war on that? Well, I think it's a great question. I've tried to be the fiercest defender of our separation of church and state in our First Amendment, the establishment clause and the free exercise clause. Because historically, Christians, particularly Protestant Christians, were the staunchest defenders of that separation, not just for the benefit of the state or the benefit of the state. to democracy, but for the benefit of the church. The separation of church and state doesn't just protect the state. It protects the church as well.

And so that sacred boundary has to be defended at all costs. You may know that when Thomas Jefferson first uttered, I guess he didn't say it, but when he first wrote that famous phrase, the wall of separation between church and state, it was in a letter to the Danbury Baptist, because Baptists, again, were some of the original. defenders of those protections in the First Amendment, that religious liberty, that they fled Europe to escape. And so I just want to remind my fellow Christians that we have a proud heritage of

standing up for religious liberty and religious freedom and the separation of church and state in this country. And we need to remember that going forward. Well, I think that's super important. And it has been discouraging seeing that happen across the country, like in Oklahoma, like they're just trying to wed the two and it's just disgusting, frankly. Yeah. Well, I think my final question for you is, I would just love to know what your prayer is for the country and for Texas. Like, what is your hope and prayer?

Well, again, my faith teaches me to love my neighbors as myself, my neighbors who are Christian, but also my neighbors who are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, or atheist or agnostic. and forcing my religion down their throats is not love. Robbing them of their health care is not love. Raising their taxes while we're cutting taxes for the wealthiest people in this country is not love. Defunding their neighborhood schools, silencing their teachers, banning books in their school library, none of that is love. So the prayer that I say for this country at this particular moment is rediscovering that love for one another.

Our politics for the last decade has been tearing us apart. It's been dividing us along every line imaginable. We have to come back to each other. We have to find our way back to our neighbors. That is the only hope for this country. That is the only hope for the American experiment. And I pray that this campaign can be a catalyst for that kind of neighbor love across Texas and ultimately across the country. Well, well, Pastor, I will be praying with you.

And I do very much appreciate you giving us the time here. It's a big day for you. I know you could have been a lot of places, so it's very meaningful that you're here with us. And I just, I do wish you the best race possible. And I hope you get to grow and learn a lot in your journey. Thank you. It means a lot to me. And thank you for all the work you do, Keith.

Thanks.