A central detail in James Talarico's political origin story has been questioned in the New York Times just days out from the midterm elections as he battles to become the first Democratic Texas senator since 1993.
Talarico, a former educator who currently serves as a Texas State representative, launched his original bid for office after spending two years in a San Antonio classroom as a Teach For America fellow from 2011 to 2013, when he was in his early 20s.
In his initial campaign, Talarico claimed that he taught as many as 45 students at a time and that classroom overcrowding inspired him to run for office.
He has repeated that origin story numerous times on the campaign trail for years.
'At one point, I had 45 students in one classroom,' Talarico said during a CNN town hall earlier this fall.
'There weren't enough desks for all those kids, so I had students sitting on the air-conditioning unit in the wealthiest country in human history — in the 21st century, children sitting on the air-conditioning unit,' he added at the time.
But a New York Times feature contains documentation from the Texas Education Agency that reveals the truth about Talarico's class sizes.
The largest class period assigned to Talarico contained 30 students. Most of his classes had between 22 and 27 students, and the smallest group he taught was 17 students.
Democratic candidate for US Senate James Talarico speaks at a rally ahead of the midterm elections in Lubbock, Texas
James Talarico's record with the Texas Education Agency shows he never taught in a classroom larger than 30 students
In response to data revealed by the New York Times, Talarico's campaign told the Daily Mail, 'After having 45 students placed in his classroom, James worked with school administrators to redistribute students across classes and create the learning environment that his students deserved.'
Talarico has repeatedly presented the overcrowded classroom story as a defining moment in his decision to enter politics.
'The reason I got into politics is because of my students that I taught here on the west side of the city,' Talarico told KXAN in December 2025.
'I entered the classroom in the fall of 2011 right after the state legislature cut $5 billion from our schools. I saw students slip through the cracks, I saw students fall behind because of those cuts,' Talarico claimed at the time, before adding, 'and that got me mad, and it's why I stepped up as a 28-year-old to run for office for the first time, and it's why I'm running for this U.S. Senate seat.'
Campaign signs for Democratic candidate for US Senate James Talarico and other candidates are pictured near an early voting location on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin
Democratic senatorial candidate James Talarico, speaks during a joint campaign event in Weslaco, Texas on October 25th
The story was also featured in a 2020 campaign ad during his race for state representative.
Currently, Talarico is facing off in the Senate race against the Lone Star State's Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Gregg Keller, spokesman for the pro-Paxton Lone Star Liberty PAC, accused Talarico of 'lying about his experience as a teacher.'
Keller told the Daily Mail, 'It's the latest example in a disturbing pattern of dishonesty by a politician trying to pull a fast one on Texans, but they won't be fooled.'
A YouGov/Univision poll released earlier this week found Talarico up five points, with 50 percent of support, compared to Paxton's 45 percent.
