James Talarico was not even born the last time Texas elected a Democrat as senator, in 1988. Yet on 3 November 2026, he won 55% of the vote. Sixty-seven per cent of Texans identify as Christian, while 27% are classed as Evangelical Protestants.
Politics is a complicated business, and it would be foolish to reduce an election involving millions of voters to a single cause. But for Christians, there is something about Talarico’s appeal worth noticing.
Talarico has made Christianity central to his public persona. He quotes the Bible, speaks frequently about Jesus, and has even studied theology. He consistently presents his progressive politics as an expression of his Christian faith.
Putting the Christ back into Christian?
Reading Revelation 5 with my family last week, I was struck again by how central to the whole Christian worldview …