James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S.Senate in Texas, once dismissed public outcry around explicit material in Texas public schools as a kind of "conspiracy theory" at a July 2022 hearing on education."We’re going to spend hours hearing bills that are just kind of conspiracy theory-driven and kind of kooky stuff.
And we’re going to hear some of that today, I think, in the public testimony — not the invited testimony, but the public testimony," Talarico said as a then-member of the Texas House of Representatives.The resurfaced moment adds to the pile of past statements dealing with gender, immigration and law enforcement, complicating the political calculus for Talarico as he aims to convince voters in Texas that, even as a Democrat, he could represent a Republican-leaning constituency in the Lone Star State.TED CRUZ, CONSERVATIVES RESPOND AFTER TALARICO CRITICIZES BIBLE-RELATED EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS AS 'PROPAGANDA'James Talarico, a Democrat from Texas and US Senate candidate, speaks at a campaign event in Round Rock, Texas, US, on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.(Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images)At the time of the 2022 hearing, many parents were raising concerns about news that schools and libraries across the country were featuring explicit materials that bordered on pornography.
In particular, an Ashland, Ohio board meeting made news after a group of angry parents highlighted graphic illustrations from books like It’s Perfectly Normal, Making a Baby, Own Your Period and Puberty is Gross but Also Really Awesome — all titles featuring some level of sexual references.Similar outcries emerged in Kentucky, Oregon and North Carolina.In Texas, state Rep.Matt Krause, R-Texas, sparked a similar backlash when he circulated a list of roughly 800 titles he believed were inappropriate for students.
He expressed his alarm in a letter to Texas school districts."I am writing to you as the Chairman of the Texas House Committee on General Investigation," ...