Grassroots powerhouse backs Talarico to defeat Trumpism and deliver for working-class Texans

TOP PAC has been organizing Black and Latino Texans for more than 15 years. We have built power in communities that the political establishment has long ignored, and we have changed what’s possible in this state. Today, we’re putting that power behind James Talarico for U.S. Senate.

Brianna Brown, Executive Director of the Texas Organizing Project, said:

“This endorsement is about more than a candidate. It’s about what kind of Texas we’re fighting to build. James Talarico gets that. He’s willing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us to stop Trump’s destructive agenda, lower costs for working families, and transform our state so every Texan has a real shot at a good life, no matter their age, race, gender, or nationality.

“Across the South, Republican-controlled states are passing laws designed to strip power from Black voters and communities of color. Jim and Jane Crow didn’t disappear. They got rebranded. And here in Texas, Ken Paxton has spent years perfecting that playbook. He is a white nationalist grifter and the living embodiment of corruption in Texas politics.

“Talarico is the fighter we need to go toe-to-toe with Paxton and MAGA. But this race isn’t just about stopping them. It’s about delivering real change for the millions of Texans drowning under the weight of gas prices, healthcare costs, groceries, housing, and childcare. Our politics are in service to our organizing. And with every door knock, we get closer to a Texas that belongs to all of us.

“Win, lose, or draw, with every action, we are closer to self-determining our future.”

Christina Quintero, TOP leader from Houston, added:

“The record-breaking primary turnout we saw in Texas this March didn’t come out of thin air. It’s the result of years of relentless get-out-the-vote work, election cycle after election cycle, building the kind of progressive political infrastructure that doesn’t vanish when the cameras go away. Just look at the 1.5 million Texas voters our BlackTOP electoral programs have engaged with between 2022 and 2024.

“We’ve brought hundreds of thousands of Black and Latino Texans into this movement. We’ve helped elect people-powered leaders who have passed policies that actually improve lives. And now we’re going all in to send Paxton packing. He has attacked our communities, restricted our freedoms, and undermined our democracy long enough. This midterm, we’re leaving everything on the field.”

James Talarico, State Representative and U.S. Senate candidate, said:

“I am honored to earn this endorsement, and I want to be direct: I do not win this race without working-class Black and Latino Texans. Full stop. They have the most to lose if we fail, and the most to gain if we win. TOP has spent over 15 years building the kind of deep, trusting relationships with those communities that no campaign can manufacture in a few months. That infrastructure is irreplaceable.

“Winning Texas means meeting people where they are. In their neighborhoods, at their doors, in their language. TOP does that work better than anyone in this state. I am committed to earning the trust of every community TOP organizes with, and I will spend every day between now and November proving that this campaign is fighting for a Texas for all.”

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6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais weakens Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act & clears a path for Texas to draw Black and Latino voters out of political power

Statement from Brianna Brown, Executive Director of the Texas Organizing Project: “Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a green light for Texas politicians to draw Black and Latino voters out of power. Let’s be clear about what this is: a deliberate effort to silence the fastest-growing communities in this state before we can fully exercise the political power we’ve built. By gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the Court has stripped away the most important legal tool Black and Latino Texans had to fight back against racially discriminatory maps.

“This ruling is a gift to Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who have spent more than a decade defending racially discriminatory maps, fighting federal oversight of voting rights, and using every lever of state power to weaken the political voice of Black and Latino Texans. With Section 2 gutted, they will move quickly — and aggressively — to entrench minority rule in a state where the majority of voters are people of color.

“For years, Texas lawmakers have manipulated district lines to silence Black and Latino voters, even as these communities drive nearly all of our state’s population growth. Now the Supreme Court has told them they can keep doing it with even fewer consequences.

“This is what the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act looks like. When the highest court in the country refuses to stop racial discrimination that’s staring it in the face, it’s telling Black and Latino Texans that their voices and their votes don’t matter. TOP rejects that premise, full stop. And we’re not backing down. 

“TOP will continue organizing in every corner of this state — block by block, door by door — because no court ruling can erase the power of communities fighting for a Texas that works for all of us, regardless of age, race, faith, gender, or income.”

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About Texas Organizing Project: TOP organizes Black and Latino communities in Dallas, Harris, Bexar, and Fort Bend counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visitorganizetexas.org.