Talarico was the coattail; Hispanics and Blacks made it all possible. Hispanic turnout for Gina Hinojosa and Black turnout for their Black candidates made the election results possible.
Pundits can go over Talarico with a fine-tooth comb, looking to find the magic that made this election possible. In my opinion, it is the White people wanting to give the credit to the Gabachos, where, if any, it is due in small amounts.
Gina Hinojosa did not have a Paxton-type corrupt person she was running against. Gina Hinojosa did not have the type of money that billionaires gave to Talarico. Especially at the beginning, she relied on people like me who would send $25 or $50 a month to her campaign.
Letitia Plummer started out with little support and very little money, but she worked the voters and kept going. The Chronicle and a blogger certainly did not help her when they painted her as Muslim. She is Muslim; she has never denied it, but it is not something she mentions in her campaigns. She managed to get into a run-off with former Mayor Annise Parker, who had the blessing of the Houston Chronicle and many wealthy supporters. Parker was the female version of John Whitmire, D, on the outside but Red on the inside.
Polls showed Plummer almost 20 points behind Parker, but lo and behold, she won the runoff and went on to win by over 20%. She did because the Black community backed her, and Jasmine Crockett did everything she could to elect Black people to positions they had never held before. Not only here, but in Dallas, Tarrant County, and surrounding areas.
Hinojosa, Plummer, and others like her from their communities and other minority communities worked to change what was happening in Texas. They did it, not the white people, not Talarico (I expect him to be another Fetterman). Time will tell, and I hope I am wrong about James Talarico. Some who sleep with billionaires wake up with the billionaire’s fleas bigger than themselves. Well, maybe the white people deserve a little credit, but it will be given when they start doing the same to other communities.
But for now, other elections will start soon; here in Houston, we have municipal elections next year. Those who are term-limited have to decide to try for a higher position or sit out a year and wait for the 2028 elections.
Billionaires and multimillionaires who gave to Talarico.
The principal vehicle was Lone Star Rising PAC. Here are the named wealthy donors I could document.
The largest disclosed amounts below are from the Chronicle’s October 26 donor analysis, covering reports through October 14, 2026. houstonchronicle.com
Donor Background Contribution to Lone Star Rising Reid Hoffman LinkedIn cofounder; billionaire $16.5 million Michael Bloomberg Bloomberg founder; billionaire $2.5 million Christian “Chris” Larsen Ripple cofounder; billionaire $1.75 million Susan Sarofim Philanthropist; widow of billionaire Fayez Sarofim $1.5 million Reed Hastings Netflix cofounder; billionaire $1 million Rory Gates Son of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates $1 million Thomas J. Henry Law PLLC Contribution through the wealthy Texas attorney’s firm $1 million Those seven donors account for $25.25 million. Henry’s firm had previously supported Paxton before Henry endorsed Talarico. houstonchronicle.com
Other disclosed donors appear in earlier reports. These are documented amounts, rather than verified final election-cycle totals:
Donor Background Documented PAC contribution Stephen Mandel Jr. Billionaire founder of Lone Pine Capital $500,000 Simone Coxe Philanthropist; wife of billionaire investor Tench Coxe $500,000 Lisa Primus Physician and major philanthropist $500,000 Don Henley Eagles cofounder $300,000 These amounts were documented in the Express-News analysis of reports through June 30. expressnews.com
Additional named contributors included Adam Pritzker, $180,000; Mark Heising, $100,000; David Gochman, $100,000; and Mark Jacobsen, $100,000, according to the Tribune’s earlier donor investigation. Pritzker comes from the Hyatt family; the other three are investment or financial-services executives. texastribune.org
There was also an indirect route through The Bench. That organization gave $500,000 to Lone Star Rising. Its own first-quarter donors included billionaire Stephen Mandel ($2 million), Reed Hastings ($395,000), and Michael Novogratz ($250,000). Because The Bench supports multiple candidates, those upstream contributions cannot all be counted as money specifically earmarked for Talarico. texastribune.org
The undisclosed-money route: Government That Works PAC contributed $3.75 million to Lone Star Rising. Its funding included money from Sixteen Thirty Fund and other nonprofits that do not publicly identify their original donors. That establishes the organizational trail, but does not establish which particular billionaire supplied those dollars. texastribune.org
