He was called a heretic, a demon in human form and even the Antichrist, but the name-calling didn't stop softly spoken James Talarico from romping home to a historic win in Texas.
asserted
calling → call → Texas
The former school teacher crushed his Trump-endorsed Republican opponent Ken Paxton to become the first Democrat senator from the Lone Star State since 1988.
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teacher → crush → 1988
His high-profile victory against the odds has already sparked speculation he is a potential front-runner for the presidency in 2028, having previously garnered Obama-like devotion from some Democrats.
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he → spark → Democrats
The position of state governor also went to a Democrat – for the first time in two generations.
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position → go → generations
Gina Hinojosa is the first Latina to be elected governor of Texas.
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Hinojosa → elect → Texas
However, Mr Talarico, 37, has alienated and infuriated many evangelical Christians.
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Talarico → alienate → Christians
To some of them, his campaign against the scandal-plagued Mr Paxton was not just about the fate of the US Senate, nor about influencing the final two years of Donald Trump's presidency.
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campaign → plague → presidency
A Presbyterian seminarian, Mr Talarico has espoused a progressive brand of Christianity that critics called 'woke' and quickly made him an enemy of America's religious Right.
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him → espouse → Right
'What he teaches is evil,' Dr Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church, a nationally known megachurch in Dallas, Texas, told the Daily Mail.
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Jeffress → teach → Mail
Texas Senator-elect James Talarico and Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa, both Democrats, cheers surrounded by supporters at Whattaburger in Austin, Texas
Mr Talarico's boldest proclamations include statements such as 'God is non-binary,' 'Jesus was a radical feminist,' and that there are 'six genders', a claim he has since walked back on.
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he → surround → statements
He has also suggested the Bible is silent on abortion, and that Jesus would have supported free universal healthcare.
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Jesus → suggest → healthcare
On one Facebook group with more than 250,000 members, a discussion kicked off with: 'James Talarico has the Antichrist spirit living in him.'
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spirit → kick → him
A YouTube video with tens of thousands of views said he was 'not the Antichrist but man is he getting close,' going on to claim that the Senate candidate was a 'heretic'.
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candidate → say → views
Mr Talarico was born in Round Rock, a town just outside the city of Austin, Texas in 1989, the year after the Democrats last won a Senate seat in the state.
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Democrats → bear → state
After graduating from the University of Texas, Austin, and Harvard, he became a middle school teacher in Texas and was elected to the state's legislature in 2018.
He also became a seminarian, training to become a pastor in the Presbyterian Church and pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Austin Theological Seminary.
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He → graduate → Seminary
Mr Talarico made faith central to his campaign, using the slogan 'Love Thy Neighbor,' and regularly quoting the Bible.
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faith → make → Bible
But during a legislative hearing in 2021, Mr Talarico said: 'Modern science recognises that there are many more than two biological sexes – in fact, there are six.'
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science → say → fact
He voted against a Republican bill banning transgender children playing on sports teams aligning with their gender identity and he suggested that parents who 'deny their child's gender identity' are 'abusive for sure'.
Another comment that landed badly with many Christians was that theirs has been the 'most violent' religion.
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theirs → vote → Christians
However, his victory has led some Democrats to believe they will finally end the Republican's unofficial status as the 'party of God' which they have held since the days of Ronald Reagan.
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they → lead → Reagan
The Aporia
