U.S. Senate races are outrageously expensive. Politicians in Washington and the Supreme Court have made it so that billionaires and corporations can funnel unlimited sums of money into Senate campaigns.

National contests with national stakes invite absurd amounts of outside spending. Corporate and billionaire mega-donors who don’t live in Texas will do anything to uphold the corrupt system because they profit off the status quo at our expense.

Those who broke our democracy did it by spending obscene sums to rig the system. The whole thing is broken and corrupt.

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For too long, politicians have fallen in line with this playbook because it’s easy. We’re told this is just how things work in Washington and to settle for the status quo.

It’s not true. Those at the top know that the people, united behind a common cause, are the greatest threat to their power. That is why they are scared of us.

I’m running to get Big Money out of our politics. It’s why I never took a dime of corporate PAC money in the Texas House, and I’m not starting now.

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The only way we can win is by building the largest grassroots campaign Texas has ever seen. I can’t physically be everywhere in Texas on the same day. Nobody can, but we can build a campaign that does reach everyone.

We need organizers and volunteers in every corner of the state. We need significant resources to get our message out to as many Texans as possible. And yes, we’ll have to run ads to counter the lies and smears that super PACs funded by billionaires and corporations are going to run about me.

So this is why we have to raise money. I wish the money we’ve already raised were enough. But we can’t allow those at the top to buy this seat for another puppet politician.

So I hate to ask you for money, truly. If there were a way to run a campaign without ever asking for a dollar, I would. But I can’t take on the Big Money flooding Texas without support from people like you.

If taking back Texas and transforming our politics is worth it to you, please consider making a contribution before tonight’s FEC deadline.

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I am humbled by the trust placed in me by the people to lead this ticket. I do not take this responsibility lightly.

I will give this fight my all.

An excerpt from my speech is below. I hope you will take a moment to read it, and if you’d like to hear the speech in full, you can watch it here.

In 1960, John Steinbeck took a road trip across America. He wrote about the virtues and quirks of each state he visited.

And when he got here, he wrote that Texas is not just a state, “it’s a state of mind.”

That Texas state of mind resists any tyranny — whether it comes from dictators 200 years ago or billionaire mega-donors today.

That’s why these new tyrants had to look out of state to find puppet politicians willing to do their bidding.

That’s why they picked Ken Paxton – the most corrupt politician in America.

Ken Paxton was born in North Dakota, raised in California, and has a place in Hawaii.

Listen, I believe anyone can be a Texan. It doesn’t matter if you’re an eighth-generation Texan like me or a California transplant like Ken Paxton. What makes a Texan is not in the boots or the truck — it’s deep in the heart.

These billionaires and their puppets have the wrong state of mind. Their hearts and their dreams are just not big enough.

We let these small men get their hands on our big state.

You know the kind of people I’m talking about. The kind who make themselves feel big by making everyone else feel small.

These small men took all the money and power they could grab, and they set out to shrink Texas down to their size.

• They’re shrinking our Texas economy with job killing tariffs.

• They’re shrinking our Texas public schools with private school voucher scams.

• They’re shrinking our healthcare so it covers less and less.

• They’re shrinking our paychecks and how much those paychecks can buy.

• And they’re shrinking our power by attacking our God-given rights at the ballot box and redrawing our districts to keep themselves in power.

They’ve been shrinking Texas for three decades now.

But that ends this year, in this election. In November, we can make Texas big again. We can make Texas friendly again. We can make Texas, Texas again.

We have the chance to take back our state from the billionaire mega-donors and puppet politicians who stole it from us.

The first official FEC fundraising deadline since Republicans nominated Ken Paxton is on June 30, and James needs your help. When this deadline ends, we’re legally required to report what we’ve raised, and everyone will be watching.

If you care about taking back Texas’ U.S. Senate seat, please consider making a contribution today to make sure we have the resources to win. The June 30 FEC deadline is a critical moment for our movement. Thank you.

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There is only one way.

Together.

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When we launched this campaign, I had no idea what to expect. There were a number of people who had encouraged me to run. My interview with Joe Rogan got a lot of attention, and even President Obama had some kind words to say about me during the Texas redistricting fight.

But the biggest question in my mind was whether or not we could build the grassroots movement capable of not just taking on the Republican nominee but also the billionaire mega-donors in this country who have rigged our politics and pitted neighbor against neighbor for their own profit.

I soon got an answer to my question.

Twelve hours after announcing the launch of our campaign, we held a rally in Round Rock, Texas. I was reviewing my speech as we drove up and got a bit worried about arriving on time as we got stuck in traffic.

Turns out the traffic was from everyone else trying to get to our event…

More than 1,000 people showed up that night. And at that rally, I announced that we had raised our first $1 million — within the first 12 hours of launching — powered by people contributing $5, $10, $50 at a time to our campaign.

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From there, we were off…

Since that launch, more than 40,000 volunteers have joined our team — organizing in every corner of the state.

Some have even started their own volunteer meetups across the state. And they’re not just trying to win votes — during the SNAP food assistance crisis, our volunteers organized visits to food banks to help others.

We have held rallies across Texas, joined by hundreds and thousands of people at almost every stop.

More than 500,000 people have contributed to our campaign, a number that actually gives us a chance to win this race against the extraordinary amount of money that will be spent to defeat us in a general election.

And now, we are leading in the polls against our opponent Ken Paxton.

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So, no ... I am no longer worried about whether or not we can mobilize the grassroots effort required to win this race.

It’s already happening all across Texas.

But what is most gratifying to me is that people are coming together not just to support or defeat a candidate, they are volunteering their time and money for something greater than that.

In my faith tradition, Jesus famously summed up his teachings into two commandments: love God and love thy neighbor.

“Politics” is just another word for how we treat our neighbors.

When someone volunteers their time or contributes their hard-earned money, they are doing it because they want a job with good benefits; a well-funded public school; and the ability to see a doctor when they need one -- not just for themselves but for others who they may not know or never will.

That is the promise — and the potential — of this campaign. Not just to win a race, but to transform the way people treat their neighbors in Texas and in this country. And we’re doing it together

Thank you for being a part of this movement,

James Talarico

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Ken Paxton represents everything that is wrong with our broken politics. He is the most corrupt politician in America, and it isn’t even close.

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He was reported to the FBI for bribery by his own staff in the Attorney General’s office. It’s what led 60 of his fellow Republicans in the Texas House to impeach him.

And when he was indicted on three felony counts of investment fraud, he even got his own mugshot.

He escaped conviction after two of his biggest financial backers — a couple of Christian nationalist billionaires from West Texas — gave $3 million to the impeachment judge. And then all of a sudden, he was off the hook.

Ken Paxton’s net worth has skyrocketed by up to 7,000% since taking office, while working Texans are struggling to stay afloat. He now owns at least 12 properties in five states worth millions of dollars, while working Texans are struggling to afford one home.

His corruption is also making Texans less safe. Just this week, Ken Paxton released Adam Hoffman — a self-admitted child sex abuser — from jail after one of Paxton’s wealthy lawyer friends got involved in the case.

Hoffman was supposed to serve 25 years to life in prison. But he served less than a month. Paxton even kept him off the sex offender registry. Now Hoffman is back on our streets because of Ken Paxton’s corruption.

The list of ways in which he has shown himself to be unfit is never-ending and at times outright cartoonish — like when he stole a $1,000 Montblanc pen on camera at a local courthouse.

We have a moral imperative to stop Ken Paxton. This election will be an indictment of the broken, corrupt political system that Ken Paxton embodies — the system that is making everything more expensive for working Texans by prioritizing billionaire mega-donors over the people.

This is about The People vs. Ken Paxton.

It will not be easy, but together, we can get the job done. If you can afford it, please consider making a contribution to help us take back Texas. We need to make this a big day for our movement.

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Texas produces more energy than any other state in the country. We’ve dominated oil and gas for decades and are one of the top leaders in solar and wind. But despite living in an energy powerhouse, Texans are still feeling pain at the pump.

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Americans need relief.

Since starting this new disastrous war in Iran less than two months ago, gas prices have jumped more than a dollar a gallon to over $4.10 — which may cost American households $740 more on gasoline alone this year.

We’re all feeling it — but the effects go way beyond the gas pump.

The people who started this war will never feel it the way we do.

They don’t worry about the price of gas. They don’t fill the tank halfway and then stop because the number is climbing too high.

But we do.

In the last election, the American people voted to end wars and to make life more affordable. But then the people in power started a new war — and it’s making everything more expensive.

Americans need relief.

What can we do about it?

This week, I proposed a plan to suspend the federal gas and diesel taxes to put money back into our pockets.

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It’s not enough on its own — but suspending the federal gas tax puts more than $2 billion into Texans’ pockets, while we work to end this new war.

Suspend the gas tax. Suspend the diesel tax. End the war in Iran.

James

I held a press conference at a private jet terminal because jets are just one of a hundred loopholes the ultra-wealthy use to avoid paying taxes — loopholes the rest of us can’t take advantage of.

The system is rigged.

Since 1955, tax rates on the ultra-wealthy have plummeted.

Today the average American pays about 14.5% in federal income taxes. But the ultra-rich pay about half that.

How is that possible?

For 50 years, billionaires have bankrolled political campaigns. Then, their puppet politicians turn around and rewrite the tax code to favor the ultra-wealthy.

And it worked.

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Just look at business tax write-offs, a rule originally meant to help small business owners cover basic costs like office space or travel.

But billionaires take advantage of write-offs in ways the rest of us can’t. They buy yachts and private jets, claim it’s a “business expense” — and lower their entire taxable income.

It’s a scam.

This is why billionaires buy politicians: to rewrite the rules and rig the system for themselves.

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What can we do about it?

Every tax dollar a billionaire writes off on their private jet is a tax dollar that has to come from you.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We can limit the influence of billionaires in our politics and make them pay their fair share so we can start cutting OUR taxes.

These loopholes have only gotten bigger in recent years — especially after John Cornyn’s deciding vote on the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which allowed billionaires to permanently deduct the entire cost of a private jet from their taxable income.

These loopholes were created for billionaires by billionaire-bought politicians like John Cornyn. They’re not meant to help working people. They are cheat codes used by the ultra-wealthy.

Billionaires shouldn’t be able to buy politicians that bend the rules in their favor — and middle-class Americans shouldn’t feel like they’re drowning when they file their taxes.

This plan will help fix our corrupt tax system by closing billionaire loopholes so we can cut taxes for working people.

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If we get money out of our politics — we can put money in our pockets.

So next year on Tax Day, working people can finally pay less than a billionaire.

James

We’re about to take back Texas.

To the billionaires who have taken over our state and our country: your unchecked power is coming to an end. Your days dividing working people are numbered.

To the people of Texas, no matter how you voted: this election is our chance to take power back for ourselves and our communities.

We’re done being divided. We’re done being played. We’re done being pitted against each other. That old politics is dying, and a new politics is being born — through all of us.

We launched this underdog campaign 6 months ago in my hometown of Round Rock, Texas. And since then, tens of thousands of Texans have shown up to rally with us in every corner of this state — from Beaumont to El Paso, from Amarillo to Brownsville and everywhere in between.

We have recruited more than 28,000 volunteers who are organizing in every community across Texas.

And we have shattered grassroots fundraising records — all without taking a dime from corporate PACs.

This is a people-powered movement to take on this broken, corrupt political system. This is truly a campaign of, by, and for the people.

We’re not just trying to win an election; we’re trying to fundamentally change our politics.

My grandad was a Baptist preacher in South Texas and he told me at an early age that we follow a barefoot rabbi who gave us two commandments: love God and love neighbor.

My faith teaches me to love my neighbor as myself. Not just my neighbor who looks like me. Not just my neighbor who prays like me. Not just my neighbor who votes like me. I am called to love all of my neighbors the way I love myself.

That’s what motivated me to go into public service — first as a public school teacher and now as a public official.

As a legislator, I’ve brought Democrats and Republicans together to take on corporate special interests and lower the cost of housing, lower the cost of childcare, and lower the cost of prescription drugs including insulin.

I’m trying to love my neighbor through public policy. I’m trying to make my neighbor’s life a little easier and a little better.

But that kind of love in our politics has been hard to find.

There is something broken in America.

Our economy is broken. Our political system is broken. Even our relationships with each other feel broken.

That’s because the most powerful people in the world want it that way.

The billionaires who own the social media algorithms, who own the cable news networks, who own the politicians fighting on our screens — they want us at each other’s throats. They want us focused on how we’re different instead of how we’re the same. Because our unity is a threat to their wealth and their power.

So they divide us by party, by race, by gender, by religion, so we don’t notice that they are picking our pockets. That they are closing our public schools, gutting our healthcare, and raising taxes on all of us while they cut taxes for themselves.

The real fight in this country is not left vs. right. It’s top vs. bottom.

Those billionaires want us looking left and right at our neighbors instead of looking up at them. They want to keep us from seeing all that we have in common. They want to keep us from realizing that there is far more that unites us than divides us.

Because despite our differences, we all want the same things: a safe neighborhood, a good job with good benefits, a high-quality well-funded public school, and the ability to see a doctor when we need one.

I am tired of being pitted against my neighbor. I am tired of being told to hate my neighbor.

It’s been more than ten years of this kind of politics. Politics as a bloodsport. Politics as trolling and owning. Politics as total war. It tears families apart and ends friendships. And it makes us all feel terrible all the time.

We can’t defeat the politics of division with more division. We can’t win their game; we have to change the game.

This campaign is rooted in a fierce love — for our state, for our country, and for all of our neighbors.

• If you hate politics and you’ve never voted before — you have a home in this campaign.

• If you have voted for Democrats, but are tired of DC Democrats always folding — you have a home in this campaign.

• And if you voted for Donald Trump, but you are fed up with the extremism and the corruption in our government — you have a home in this campaign.

People across the political spectrum are hungry for a new kind of politics. Not a politics of fear. Not a politics of hate. Not a politics of division. But a politics of love.

A love that can heal what’s broken in America.

This new kind of politics is being born right here in Texas.

• The number of young people who showed up to vote in this election is unprecedented.

• The number of Texans who have never voted before but showed up in this election is unprecedented.

• The number of Independents and Republicans who voted in this Democratic primary is unprecedented.

There is something happening in Texas.

The people of Texas just gave this country a little bit of hope. And a little bit of hope is a dangerous thing.

It doesn’t matter what happens in the Republican runoff — we already know who we’re running against: the billionaire megadonors and their corrupt political system.

Not any one politician. Not any one political party. We are running against this broken system and the powerful people who broke it.

They’re scared of the movement we’re building together. They’re going to throw everything they have at us. They’ll call me a radical leftist. They’ll call me a fake Christian. They’ll call our movement un-Texan, un-American. They’ll call us a threat.

The only truth is: we are a threat — a threat to their corrupt system.

2,000 years ago, when the people at the top hurt those at the bottom, that barefoot rabbi didn’t stay in his room and pray. He walked into the seat of power and flipped over the tables of injustice. To those who love this state, to those who love this country, to those who love our neighbors: it’s time to start flipping tables.

James

Ken Paxton is the most corrupt politician in America. He is everything that is wrong with our broken political system. I was part of the bipartisan majority in the Texas House that impeached our corrupt attorney for using his public office to enrich his donors.

But Ken Paxton is also guilty of legal corruption. We typically think of corruption as something illegal. But corruption is really just the betrayal of the public trust. It’s the abuse of your public office.

Paxton sued to block the Corporate Transparency Act — a bipartisan bill which would have cracked down on secret corporate money-laundering. He sold out his constituents to enrich his donors through public policy.

But Ken Paxton is just the symptom. Our broken system is the disease.

Why am I tackling corruption?

Politics feels corrupt because it is.

We don’t have a government of, by, and for the people. We have a government of, by, and for the billionaires.

Billionaire mega-donors buy politicians. Then those puppet politicians turn around and rig the system to benefit the billionaires at our expense.

• We can’t afford to buy a home, but billionaires are getting another tax break.

• We can’t afford childcare, but billionaires are getting another tax break.

• We can’t afford the medicine that we need to live, but billionaires are getting yet another tax break.

Every time things get worse for us, things get better for them.

We have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis.

Politics feels corrupt because it is. But it doesn’t have to be.

What will I do about it?

Today, I announced a comprehensive anti-corruption platform to take on this broken political system:

• Get Big Money out of our politics: Reverse the impact of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, including by banning super PACs and corporate PACs.

• Ban partisan gerrymandering nationwide: Establish independent redistricting commissions so that voters can choose their politicians — not the other way around.

• Ban Congressional stock trading: Ban Members of Congress from trading individual stocks, engaging in insider trading, and profiting from their positions.

• Institute term limits on Members of Congress: Implement term limits of six two-year terms in the House and two six-year terms in the Senate to bring new perspectives to Congress and prevent entrenched, career politicians who are not accountable to their constituents.

• Require Members of Congress to hold annual town halls: Ensure officials are responsive to their constituents through yearly town halls in their district.

• Ban presidential pardons: Eliminate the broad power of presidential pardons that has been abused by presidents on both sides of the aisle.

• Increase accountability for the Supreme Court: Implement term limits and a binding code of conduct for U.S. Supreme Court justices, including mandating rules for recusals, financial disclosures, and limitations on accepting gifts.

We have to come together — across all our divisions — to transform this broken, corrupt political system.

None of this is going to be easy. We’re going up against these billionaire mega-donors and corporate PACs.

They’re trying to install their top puppet in this U.S. Senate seat. The most corrupt politician in America wants a promotion and his billionaire mega-donors are going to do everything they can to give it to him.

Politics feels corrupt because it is. But it doesn’t have to be.

James

An update from Team Talarico:

It’s going to take all of us to win this race. Share this post with a fellow Texan to ensure they are tuned into this critical election.

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Upcoming important dates:

February 2nd — Last Day to Register to Vote in the Primary

February 17th to February 27th — Early Voting for the Primary

March 3rd — Primary Election Day

Lastly, if you want to support James, you can sign up to volunteer near you!

Volunteer!

If you’re in Texas, you will probably start seeing it on your TV screen.

Watch our first campaign ad: “I Don’t Scare Easily.”

The seven-figure statewide TV buy starting this week ensures that our campaign will be on the air in major Texas media markets from now until primary day, utilizing our campaign’s massive grassroots fundraising to share my story directly with voters.

We chose the title “I Don’t Scare Easily” because like the ad says, I’m ready to keep fighting for every Texan in the U.S. Senate.

I’ve now served four terms in the Texas House. I’ve fought Republican extremism at every turn — including their efforts to whitewash our history, ban abortion, and impose Christian Nationalism on the schoolchildren of Texas.

And this past summer, I led the quorum break that shined a national spotlight on Trump’s redistricting power grab and unconstitutional maps.

Many of you may have seen videos of me going toe-to-toe with Republicans in committee and on the House floor, but I don’t just fight Republican extremism — I beat it.

I used procedural points of order (I know that’s a wonky term) to single-handedly stop harmful legislation that would have:

• Allowed the government to ban books in every school across Texas;

• Given Republican state leaders the power to take over locally run elections;

• Kicked thousands of people off of Medicaid and SNAP; and

• Stopped schools from connecting students to mental health resources.

I know how to use every tool in my toolbox to defeat Republican extremism, even in an unfavorable environment like the Texas Legislature.

I don’t just stop harmful bills — I’ve also passed transformational legislation in a Republican-dominated body.

• As a former public school teacher, I’ve passed bills to cap Pre-K class sizes, fund mental health services for students, and equip every public school with narcan.

• As a Type 1 diabetic, I passed legislation to cap insulin copays at $25/month and allow Texas to import prescription drugs from Canada to bring down the cost of other lifesaving drugs our neighbors rely on.

• And as the son of a single mom who worked overtime at a hotel to support me, I’ve also passed major legislation to lower child care costs and housing costs for working families.

This is what it means to fight for the people.

We need a senator who knows how to fight and knows how to win. Because the only thing better than a fighter, is a winner.

Together, we will win this race and fight for working people in the U.S. Senate.

Let’s get to work.

James

TV ads like this help us reach voters all over Texas — but they aren’t cheap.

Chip in today to keep us on the air!

The National Democratic Party took this community for granted. They stopped showing up. And as a result, look what happened in recent election cycles…

If we’re going to win Texas, we have to win South Texas.

That’s why I traveled there right after we launched this campaign. And it’s why we are investing major resources toward winning this critical region.

This week, I traveled back to one of my favorite places in South Texas: the Rio Grande Valley.

I was joined by Bobby Pulido, the Tejano superstar who’s stepping up to run for Congress in one of next year’s most important races.

We held a rally with a united message: We’re going to show up, we’re going to listen, and we’re not going to take Latino voters and South Texas voters for granted.

My family is from South Texas. My grandad was born in Bishop. My grandmother was born in Port Lavaca. My dad grew up in Corpus Christi, and my mom grew up in Laredo.

They raised me with South Texas values: family, faith, and freedom. Those are the values I’ve fought for in the Texas Legislature. And those are the values that Bobby and I will take to our nation’s Capitol.

John Cornyn, Ken Paxton, and Bobby’s opponent Monica de la Cruz claim to stand for freedom, family, and faith.

• But you can’t stand for freedom and control what we say, what we read, and what we do with our own bodies.

• You can’t stand for family and vote against paid family leave, affordable childcare, and neighborhood public schools.

• And you can’t stand for faith and sell out the sick, the poor, and the vulnerable so you can cut taxes for the rich.

DC Republicans don’t stand for freedom, family, and faith. They stand for control, cruelty, and corruption.

In the last election, Republican politicians showed up in South Texas and made big promises.

• They promised to make everything less expensive.

• They promised to put working families first.

• They promised to drain the swamp.

I have dear friends and family members in South Texas who voted for Republicans because of those promises. And I get it, I want those things too. Every Texan does.

But look what’s happened just one year since the election:

• Everything is more expensive.

• Working families are falling further behind.

• And corruption in Washington is the worst it’s ever been.

Republican politicians promised big change but delivered more of the same.

As Bobby and I talk to voters in South Texas, this is our #1 message to them: If you feel like you’ve been conned, if you feel like you’ve been let down by both political parties — you’ve got a place in this campaign.

Mil gracias, y se vale soñar!

James

Last Tuesday, we kicked off this campaign in my hometown of Round Rock, Texas. 1,800 people showed up with less than 12 hours notice.

At that launch rally, I announced that we had raised $1 million in just the first 12 hours. 97% of our donations are $100 or less. $0 from corporate PACs.

Since Tuesday, thousands of Texans have shown up to rallies in San Antonio, Fort Bend, Houston, and Dallas.

We also held a rally in deep-red Longview, Texas.

It was standing room only.

I’ve visited with local officials, worshiped with a Houston church, and joined the picket line with striking hotel workers demanding better wages and better working conditions.

This is truly a campaign of, by, and for the people.

We are building a grassroots movement. We are going everywhere and talking to everyone to take back Texas from billionaire mega-donors and their puppet politicians.

But I want to take a moment and talk about why I joined this race in the first place.

There’s something broken in America. Our economy is broken. Our politics are broken. Even our relationships with each other feel broken.

That’s because the most powerful people in the world want it that way.

The biggest divide in this country is not left versus right. It’s top versus bottom. The people at the top work so hard to keep us angry and divided because our unity is a threat to their wealth and power. So their cable news networks and their social media algorithms tear us apart.

They divide us by party, by race, by gender, by religion so we don’t notice they’re defunding our schools, gutting our healthcare, and cutting taxes for themselves and their rich friends.

It’s the oldest strategy in the world: divide and conquer. But we will not be conquered.

We’re underdogs in this fight. We’re going up against these billionaire mega-donors and their puppet politicians. We’re going up against a rigged system. And we’re going up against a lot of money.

But I’m a former middle school teacher, I don’t scare easily. And Texans don’t scare easily.

My granddad was a Baptist preacher in South Texas. He taught me that we follow a barefoot rabbi who gave us two commandments: love God and love neighbor. Because there is no love of God without love of neighbor. Every single person bears the image of the sacred; every single person is holy. Not just the neighbors who look like me or pray like me or vote like me — all of my neighbors.

Those billionaires want to keep us from seeing all that we have in common. They want to keep us from realizing there’s far more that unites us than divides us. Because once we do, we’ll come together — across party, across race, across gender, across religion — to take back power for ourselves and our communities.

2,000 years ago, when the powerful few rigged the system, that barefoot rabbi walked into the seat of power and flipped over the tables of injustice.

To those who love this state, to those who love this country, to those who love our neighbors: it’s time to start flipping tables.

James