Common Council holds its biennial reorganization meeting

James Talarico reports raising nearly $7 million, continuing cash influx to U.S. Senate bid

by Alejandro Serrano, The Texas Tribune
January 2, 2026

State Rep. James Talarico raised nearly $7 million for his U.S. Senate run during the latest fundraising quarter, increasing his total haul to $13 million since launching his bid, his campaign said Friday.

Talarico established himself as a prolific fundraiser after raising $6.2 million in the first three weeks of his campaign, which far outpaced other recent Democrats who sought statewide office. Democrats have not won statewide office in Texas since 1994.

The figure released Friday — $6.8 million worth of contributions — suggests the money momentum continues for Talarico, a former public school teacher who has represented a district that includes North Austin and parts of Pflugerville and Round Rock in the Texas House since 2018. Most of Talarico’s donations — 98% — were for $100 or less and none came from corporate PACs, according to the campaign.

It is not clear how much of the money Talarico has already spent. All candidates for federal office must file a finance update with the election commission by the end of the month.

“With the help of more than 215,000 neighbors, we are building a campaign to win the primary, win the general, and deliver for working people across Texas,” Talarico said in a statement, referring to the number of individual contributors.

A spokesperson for his primary opponent, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, did not immediately return a request for comment. Crockett, who filed to run for Senate later than Talarico, is also a prolific fundraiser.

A poll released last month had Crockett leading Talarico by 8 percentage points.

Talarico’s early cash influx gave him an upper hand over former U.S. Rep. Collin Allred, who took two months to raise as much money during his unsuccessful challenge to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz last cycle. Allred left the Senate race in December and pivoted to run for the Dallas-based 33rd Congressional District.

On the Republican side, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is facing the biggest challenge of his career in a three-way contest to be the GOP nominee as Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, try to unseat the incumbent. As of October, Cornyn carried a big financial advantage over Paxton and Hunt.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.

An evasive Trump told reporters on Thursday that the American citizen shot and killed by ICE "behaved horribly," but stumbled when reporters pressed him harder.

As news of the fatal shooting of an observer by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis began to spark outrage and protests, President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to defend the officers' actions and falsely claim that the victim, Renee Nicole Good, was driving toward officers or even that an officer was hospitalized, none of which appears to be true from reporting or video footage.

New York Times reporters went on to confront Trump about these discrepancies on Thursday morning, and when put on the spot, he became evasive.

“She behaved horribly,” said Trump. “And then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over. She ran him over. I’ll play the tape for you right now.” Trump then had his assistant Natalie Harp bring over a laptop that played a slow-motion video of the shooting.

“With all of it being said, no, I don’t like that happening,” Trump added before the video played.

After Times reporters noted that the video didn't show any ICE officer being run over, Trump stumbled over his words, saying, “Well, I — the way I look at it — It’s a terrible scene. I think it’s horrible to watch. No, I hate to see it.”

Trump's claims that the shooting was justified have been echoed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said the officer “used his training to save his own life and that of his colleagues” from a woman who was "stalking" them.

The exact nature of what caused the officer to fire his weapon is not the only criticism ICE is facing; other reports have indicated the officers blocked a doctor who was on scene from rendering medical assistance after the shooting.