State Rep. James Talarico on Wednesday announced a new Spanish-language ad buy, set to air on Univision in nearly a dozen of the state’s largest media markets, in what amounts to his first significant push to shore up support from Latino voters as he battles U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett for the Democratic nomination in Texas’ U.S. Senate race.
The Spanish-language ad, shared first with The Texas Tribune, focuses on Talarico’s defense of public education as a teacher and state legislator. It will air twice during Thursday’s international friendly soccer match between Mexico and Panama in 11 media markets across the state. Talarico’s campaign declined to disclose how much money was behind the ad buy.
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Titled “¡Vale La Pena!”, or “Worth It!”, the ad describes Talarico’s work in the state House to raise teacher pay and combat private school vouchers. The GOP-controlled Legislature last year approved Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to let families use taxpayer dollars to pay for their children’s private school tuition and other educational expenses.
“James Talarico — porque la educación de nuestros hijos sí vale la pena,” the ad’s narrator says, which translates to “because the education of our children is worth it.”
The TV spot is part of a broader Spanish-language campaign being launched by Talarico’s team on Wednesday, including new social media channels that will promote his message in Spanish and feature Spanish-speaking content creators.
Talarico and Crockett are facing off in the March 3 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, with the winner hoping to be the first Texas Democrat to win a statewide election in over 30 years. Republican Sen. John Cornyn is running for reelection, though he faces a competitive primary of his own against Attorney General Ken Paxton and Houston U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.
Polling of the Democratic primary has generally projected Latino Texans to make up a quarter to 30% of the electorate in March. Those surveys have shown Talarico leading among Latino voters, including in an Emerson College poll earlier this month that found him with a 34-point edge over Crockett among Latino likely voters, albeit among a relatively small sample size. In a December poll conducted by Texas Southern University, Talarico’s lead among Latino voters was 10%.
Latino voters accounted for nearly one in four votes cast in Texas’ 2024 general election, according to estimates by VoteHub. President Donald Trump and Republicans made significant inroads with Latino voters that year, particularly in South Texas,, and they are expected to play a critical swing role in the state’s 2026 midterms.
In launching Spanish-language content, the Talarico campaign is hoping to target Spanish speakers well in advance of the general election. The outreach could help him gain an edge over Crockett, who took heat for a 2024 comment to Vanity Fair in which she said some Latino Texans’ anti-immigrant attitudes were “almost like a slave mentality.”
Crockett, who launched a “Juntos con Crockett” digital ad in early January, maintains social channels under the same name with messaging directed toward Latino voters.
According to a list provided by the campaign, Talarico’s Spanish-language TV ad will air in the following media markets: Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Harlingen/McAllen, El Paso, Laredo, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa and San Angelo.
In addition to the ad, which marks the beginning of a Spanish language TV buy for the primary, the Talarico campaign on Wednesday launched several “Talarico en Español” channels across social media platforms including Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, where the state lawmaker first built a large following.
The channels are launching with a direct-to-camera video of Talarico addressing voters in Spanish. Talarico, noting that his Spanish is so-so, goes through his biography and welcomes voters to the channel.
Future social media posts will include collaborations with Spanish-speaking digital creators, including Houston immigrant rights activist Carlos Eduardo Espina, Talarico’s campaign said.