James Talarico, who won his Texas Senate race last night, said he’d be willing to work with President Donald Trump on border security and other matters when he takes his seat in January.
During a Wednesday appearance on Fox News, Talarico struck a more conciliatory tone after the hard-fought campaign. He said, “there’s a wide variety of issues that we could work together on.”
Immigration is one of them. I think trying to pass comprehensive immigration reform that includes border security— give the president credit where credit is due. He has done a better job than the previous administration in securing our border. But we also need to create more legal pathways for hardworking immigrants who want to come here and contribute to our economy. Who wanna make us richer and stronger as a nation. And we should figure out a pathway to citizenship for those hardworking neighbors who have been here for years and decades so they can come out of the shadows.
The senator-elect further stated that he wants to work with Trump on housing. “He's a builder, and we need to cut the red tape, the regulation that sometimes my party has been guilty of so that we can build millions of new homes in this country,” he said.
Talarico also pointed out that he agrees with Trump on legalizing marijuana.
🔥🚨 HOLY CRAP! — JAMES TALARICO is blasting his own party and saying he will work with President Trump on immigration, housing, and criminal justice after the midterms. TALARICO: "I think there’s a wide variety of issues that we could work together on. Immigration is one of them." "We should figure out a pathway to citizenship for those hardworking neighbors who have been here for years and decades so they can come out of the shadows." "I also want to work with the president on housing. He’s a builder, and we need to cut the red tape, the regulation that sometimes my party has been guilty of so that we can build millions of new homes in this country."
— The Patriot Oasis™ (@ThePatriotOasis) November 4, 2026
🚨 JAMES TALARICO JUST NOW: "I am not interested in retribution. The people of Texas did not elect me last night for retribution." "They elected me to deliver for them to make their lives easier and better and less stressful and that's what I plan to do and I plan to do it even for the Texans who didn't vote for me. It's why I'm here on Fox News the morning after." Talarico is up +12 points right now in Texas. The Texas GOP got utterly WIPED OUT statewide And Talarico is clearly trying to set things up so the state remains blue. A huge hole to dig out of.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 4, 2026
Talarico defeated Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and became the first Democrat to win a statewide race in the Lone Star State since the 1990s.
According to the Associated Press, Talarico won 5,445,121 votes, 55.2 percent, to Paxton’s 4,249,752, 42.9 percent, in the race for the seat Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is leaving next year.
Talarico seems to recognize that if he wants to remain in his seat for longer than one term, he needs to come off as reasonable and show he is willing to work with Republicans, including President Trump. But it’s also possible that this is empty rhetoric and he will go on to join his fellow Democrats in blocking everything the president tries to do.