Rep. James Talarico, a Texas Democratic Party lawmaker and seminary student, has defended the mass exodus of Dem representatives from his state, calling it a part of a “spiritual struggle.” In a video shared on social media, Rep. Tararico doubled down, saying that despite being threatened with arrest and removal from office, he and his fellow Democrats “will not back down” in their protest of the GOP’s redistricting plans.
For background, Texas State Rep. James Talarico (D), who splits his time between the State House and seminary, was one of the more than 50 lawmakers who left Texas in early August 2025 as part of a mass walkout to stall the redrawing of political maps that could cost their party multiple House seats.
After calling the exodus a “spiritual struggle” during a webinar on August 5, 2025, Rep Talarico went on to declare on social media that Texas Republicans “have issued a warrant for my arrest, for breaking quorum with my House Democratic colleagues to stop Trump’s redistricting power grab.” He added, “Governor Abbott has even threatened to vacate my seat, to remove me from my democratically elected position as a Texas State Representative.”
Continuing, Rep. Talarico told his audience, “Yesterday, Trump asked his FBI Director, Kash Patel, to send in federal agents to come find us, and Ken Paxton put up a Tweet asking his followers to ‘hunt’ us down.” The lawmaker went on, “My colleagues and I are here in Illinois at what we thought was a safe location. But this morning, a bomb threat was called into our hotel.”
Moreover, after confirming the safety of himself and his fellow representatives, Rep. Talarico said, We have one message: we will not be deterred, because this is bigger than us. This is bigger than any one politician, or any one political party. This is about whether the people — Democrats, Independents, and Republicans- can change their government from the bottom up; whether they can elect candidates of their choice.”
Later, the representative accused President Trump of “wrecking the economy, starting wars, and protecting pedophiles,” adding, “He’s kicking millions of people off their health care to fund tax breaks for his billionaire friends. So he’s trying to shield himself from the voters. He’s trying to shield himself from accountability.”
Predictably, Rep. Talarico was slammed in the comments section on X by conservatives. Brandon Herrera, a conservative influencer, quipped, “We will not back down from refusing to show up to work.” Another user chimed in, “You deserve to be arrested, lose your seat and be charged hefty fines. Anyone else that failed to show up to their job would be fired. You are not exempt from the same consequences.”
Previously, Talarico has said that he joined with other Texas lawmakers and “said a prayer to the power of love and its ability to give us strength and peace and comfort as we embark on this journey on behalf of our constituents and the people of Texas,” adding, “My hope is that by threatening retaliation, by maybe even, in some cases, moving forward with retaliation, with blue state power grabs, that that can convince my Texas Republican colleagues and maybe even the president to walk back from the brink.”
Watch Rep. Talarico’s video:
Featured image credit: video screengrab