James Talarico, Who Says His 'Faith' Requires Him To Oppose Super PACs, Is Using His Campaign Website To Give Them Direction—And They’re Taking It

One month before Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico said that his "faith" requires him to reject big money in politics—he likened it to Jesus Christ resisting the Devil's temptation while fasting in the wilderness—his campaign updated a buried page on its website that tacitly coordinates with super PACs, laying out instructions about what media markets to run ads in, where to send mailers, and what messages to include in them. Lo and behold, two days after the update, a super PAC led by Talarico's former chief of staff began running ads that followed the campaign's exact instructions, a Washington Free Beacon review found.

The page, titled "What Voters Need To Know About James," is not among the sections pinned to the top of the Talarico campaign's site, like "Meet James" and "Why I'm Running." Visitors can only access it by scrolling to the bottom of the site, near the privacy policy and terms of service, and clicking on a nondescript link titled "Information."

The page lays out the campaign's media and messaging strategy, and super PACs are picking up what the campaign is putting down. The page says that likely Democratic voters in Texas "need to know that James Talarico is a fighter for regular Texans," "need to learn about Talarico's record of taking on special interests and passing major legislation," and "need to learn about Talarico's record of standing up to the billionaire donors." Each section includes more specific messaging on Talarico's efforts to "prevent tax dollars from being taken from Texas public schools to fund private school vouchers" and "fight against the state's extreme abortion ban," among other talking points. Below that information are lists of the exact areas where such messages should be delivered.

The "most important" media markets for voters to "see these messages on broadcast television" are "San Antonio," "Harlingen – McAllen," and "Austin," according to the page, which says it's "also important" that voters "see these messages on premium subscription streaming services." "Likely Democratic primary voters in the 100 zip codes with the highest concentration of likely Democratic primary voters also need to see these messages on YouTube and other zip-code based, premium streaming platforms," the page adds. It goes on to identify "less important" markets where voters should receive direct mail before including links to B-roll footage of Talarico.

The page, which was last updated on Jan. 11, according to its source code, may be buried at the bottom of Talarico's site, but super PACs supporting the Democrat appear to have had no issue locating it.

Two days after the update, on Jan. 13, the super PAC Lone Star Rising—which is chaired by Talarico's first chief of staff in the state legislature, Michelle Castillo, and describes itself as "the preeminent super PAC supporting James Talarico and bringing his principled, faith-driven vision … to Washington"—began running ads that are perfectly aligned with the page's instructions.

The ads ran on YouTube, the platform Talarico's campaign mentioned by name. They targeted exactly 100 zip codes, the same number Talarico's campaign provided. They say Talarico is "standing up to billionaires," "raising teacher pay," and "expanding access to more affordable prescription drugs," talking points that are echoed on the Talarico campaign page. And they use the footage of Talarico linked on the page.

The campaign's strategy stands in direct opposition to the image Talarico has cultivated on the campaign trail of a leader standing on faith to reject super PACs and devious fundraising schemes. A month after Lone Star Rising began running the YouTube ads, in February, Talarico told the New Yorker that he would forgo such tactics just like Jesus turned down the Devil.

"The temptation story in the wilderness is exactly that—offering Jesus all the kingdoms in the world," Talarico said after reporter Tad Friend asked Talarico whether he'd accept a deal from the Devil in which a super PAC did his political "dirty work" and helped send him to the Senate.

"And it would be tempting, because I value the cause so highly. But the central belief in my faith is that the means are the ends," Talarico continued. "If we lose, it would feel not great. But—but!—it's the belief in the Resurrection, right? The belief that something beautiful would come out of this loss."

Talarico has argued that he has not broken his pledge to swear off super PACs because federal law prohibits him from coordinating with Lone Star Rising and he thus has no control over the ads the group runs.

His campaign's little-noticed webpage provides a workaround to that law, allowing Talarico to show Lone Star Rising and other super PACs exactly how they should support him without speaking to them directly.

Talarico's tactics are "pretty common" in competitive statewide Senate races, where campaigns upload what's known as a "red box" or "black box" to their websites to "pass details back and forth" with super PACs in a way that is less obvious than disseminating public memos, one senior Republican strategist told the Free Beacon. What's less common is Talarico's holier-than-thou rhetoric about such strategies.

"If you're basically comparing yourself to Jesus by saying that you're not going to use a super PAC, and then simultaneously you're directly telegraphing what you would like that super PAC to do—it's pretty clear that only Jesus was able to resist the Devil," the strategist said. "If you're going to go down that road and make that comparison, you're now a Pharisee."

Talarico's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

While Talarico has attempted to distance himself from Lone Star Rising, the super PAC's top staffers and vendors are all close associates of the candidate. In addition to Castillo—the former Talarico chief of staff who serves as the PAC's chairman—Lone Star Rising's treasurer is Texas political operative Alexander Clark, a 15-year friend of Talarico, the Free Beacon reported. Its secretary, former Texas state senator Beverly Powell, served in the state legislature at the same time as Talarico.

The Talarico campaign and Lone Star Rising share at least two fundraising vendors, KMM Consulting and KEP Strategies. Both the campaign and the super PAC often pay the firms—which have taken a combined $214,000 from the two entities so far this election cycle—on the same day.

Lone Star Rising did not respond to a request for comment.

Talarico is embroiled in a high-profile general election fight against Texas Republican attorney general Ken Paxton after defeating congresswoman Jasmine Crockett by 6 points in the March primary. Lone Star Rising is not the only prominent Talarico backer with personal ties to the candidate: Talarico's mother, with whom Talarico shares a checking account, has contributed $650 to Talarico's campaign.

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