Will James Talarico sell in Texas? Given his history of promoting racialism in public schools and participation in Defund the Police efforts, it's not even clear whether the Democrats' nominee for the US Senate could win Austin.
Democrats have tried to package the state legislator as a centrist who can connect with Texans in the suburbs, exurbs, and rural precincts of the Lone Star State. They hope especially to push his time in a Presbyterian seminary as a way to connect to Christian voters, particularly with the controversial Ken Paxton as his Republican opponent. As the Free Beacon reported yesterday, however, Talarico has spent his political career advancing a radical-progressive agenda aimed particularly at public schools, and joined forces with a group seeking to "defund the police" in Austin:
Texas Senate candidate James Talarico (D.) earned tens of thousands of dollars working as an "equitable education" consultant for a firm that develops DEI plans for public schools in Texas. The firm, MAYA Consulting, described its work as "rooted in our diversity, equity, and inclusion philosophy" and donated to a group working to defund the Austin Police Department, a Washington Free Beacon review found.
Talarico first announced he was joining MAYA, which has since rebranded as VIDA Collaborative, in 2019, writing in a Facebook post that he would be "working with districts, nonprofits, and communities to build excellent and equitable educational opportunities." Talarico worked for the firm until October 2025—one month after he launched his Senate campaign—and earned $83,333.40 from the job last year, according to his financial disclosure.
MAYA, with Talarico's help, worked to bring critical race theory and DEI to Texas schools, particularly during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, when it partnered with public school districts like Snyder Independent School District in West Texas to support "diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts." In Austin, where Talarico lives, it promoted a series of monthly "RaceTalks" organized by the local public school district's "Race Equity Council" that called on parents to "explore" their "pushback and triggers and name systemic barriers that form as a result." The firm also contributed $5,000 to the left-wing nonprofit Austin Justice Coalition around the same time the coalition called to defund the Austin Police Department.
If you think the timeline looks hinky here, it does. Talarico worked for MAYA while it did big business with school districts in Texas. A site called Defending Ed did a deep dive into the contracts MAYA acquired while Talarico sat in the state legislature, and specifically served on the state's House Committee on Public Education:
Finally, PDE filed public records requests with the Texas Education Agency.
Signed contracts with TEA total $5,161,750 for “Resilient Schools Support Program Data Fellow Cohort Facilitator” at $1,635,000 and $3,526,750 for “Resilient Schools Support Program III and IV” via an initial contract of $3,578,000.08, less a net budget decrease of $51,250.08 executed via amendment.
In addition, another contract was signed with Larkin Tackett, founder of Maya Consulting, for review of charter school applications, paid at a stipend of $100-300 for each charter school application reviewed, scored, and returned to TEA. In other words, the founder of Maya Consulting has direct input into whether charter school applications are approved or rejected by the state of Texas; this is significant authority for an individual whose company maintains contracts with at least two charter school providers.TEA records indicate that the total amount paid to Maya Consulting between 2018-Feb 6, 2023 was $1,374,437.50.
Texas State Rep. James Talarico (Round Rock) is employed by Maya Consulting, although as of May 2, Talarico is not listed on Maya Consulting’s site. However, the Wayback Machine has an archived copy of his bio page from January 20, 2023, where he was listed as a consultant.
This seems pretty shady, although it's not clear if it crossed any legal lines. Legislators in Texas work part-time, earning $7200 a year plus per diems when the legislature is in session, so either they have to have full-time work elsewhere or be independently wealthy to afford to serve. It would not be unusual for legislators to serve on committees where their vocational expertise would be put to best use. However, the financial benefits that flowed to MAYA while Talarico sat on a committee with significant influence over school districts should be enough to raise some eyebrows – especially with MAYA's attempts to memory-hole Talarico while he still drew compensation from them.
Potential corruption is just one angle on this story, albeit a potent angle, considering the millions of dollars Democrats will spend on Paxton's own corruption allegations. The bigger story here is the radical agenda Talarico pursued with MAYA, pushing the kind of extreme racialist policies onto Texas school districts that has infuriated parents and made school choice highly popular in Texas. Rather than make Talarico into a good ol' boy with a squeaky clean image, this paints Talarico as a manipulative radical forcing the indoctrination of Texas kids into progressive orthodoxy and endless racial animus.
The Free Beacon leans into that hard:
As a state lawmaker, however, Talarico led efforts to place DEI at the center of Texas schools. In 2021, he authored a bill requiring every large public school district in Texas to hire a "diversity, equity, and inclusion officer" tasked with establishing "a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion for all students" and implementing "training related to diversity, equity, or inclusion." The bill, which went nowhere in Texas's Republican-controlled legislature, could have benefited MAYA as it established itself as a leading "education equity" firm. ...
In addition to its "antiracist" work, MAYA championed left-wing gender initiatives in K-12 schools. In March 2020, the firm celebrated "Trans Day of Visibility" by touting its work "unpacking our cisnormative assumptions about trans narratives." Three months later, MAYA donated another $5,000 to Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which is now known as Glisten. The group has advocated against bills outlawing transgender care for minors. It also authored a "Model District Policy on Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students" for K-12 school districts arguing that school officials should not disclose a student's "transgender status" to his or her parents.
Read it all. Presumably, the Texas GOP already has this and is working to inform voters of Talarico's true radical nature, especially when it comes to children and education. They'd better snap to it, because as of this morning, not a single mainstream media outlet has picked it up, not even Fox News. Time to start spending some money to define Talarico for exactly what he is: a progressive wolf in "centrist" sheep's clothing.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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