U.S. Senate Hopeful James Talarico Raised Millions More in 3 Weeks Than Colin Allred Did in 3 Months

If political fundraising is supposed to be a marathon, U.S. Senate hopeful James Talarico just showed up, sprinted past fellow Democrat Colin Allred, and then jogged a victory lap while counting $100 bills.

In just three weeks, Talarico — the 36-year-old Texas state rep turned Senate hopeful — pulled in a cool $6.2 million, Axios reported. That’s a lot more than the $4.1 million that Allred, his primary opponent and last year’s Democratic nominee, managed to scrape together in three months. Think of it this way: Allred is the guy who brings a six-pack to the party, and Talarico’s the guy who shows up with a refrigerated truck.

Talarico’s haul came from 125,000 donors across all 50 states, which is either proof of a national movement or just confirmation that people outside Texas enjoy watching Lone Star Democrats fight like roosters in a political cockfight. He’s branding himself as the fresh-faced outsider who can appeal to Christian voters, which, in Texas politics, is like saying you’re really good at breathing oxygen.

And now the national press is eating it up, too. Especially since Talarico garnered a ton of coverage during the House Texas Democrats’ quorum break battle for the redistricted congressional maps — while Allred, who is known for his history as a civil rights attorney, was nowhere to be seen. The New York Times just ran a glowing op-ed asking if he’s “the savior Democrats have been waiting for,” Politico magazine is name-dropping him in Obama gossip, saying that the former president “praised Talarico as an effective spokesperson for showing up on different media and platforms.”

https://thebarbedwire.com/2025/10/01/james-talarico-fundraising/