One of the Texas Democrats who fled the state earlier this month has reportedly accepted donations from a Trump-backing megadonor despite his attacks on Republican billionaire cash in elections.
Representative James Talarico, who may be considering a potential Senate run, has railed against wealthy donors in Texas politics. But state campaign finance reports show that his House reelection bid last year saw the single largest donation coming from a PAC backed by casino mogul Miriam Adelson.
Adelson is the widow of the late Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, who died in 2021.
Talarico’s single largest donation last year came from a PAC backed by casino mogul Miriam Adelson
He took $59k from Adelson’s Texas Sands PAC in 2024
He publicly rails against big money influencing elections
But he has no problem taking it to influence his vote on gambling pic.twitter.com/ZFY44NlBUU
— Phil Holloway
(@PhilHollowayEsq) August 21, 2025
“Talarico received a total of $59,000 from the Texas Sands PAC through donations in February and December of 2024, according to state campaign finance records. That makes the group both his biggest donor last year and one of his largest since he first ran for the state legislature in 2018,” Politico reported.
Donations to state-level lawmakers have no limits under Texas law, but last year, Talarico proposed legislation that would cap state campaign contributions at $10,000. The 36-year-old, who joined about 50 Texas Democrats in running away to block a redistricting attempt by Republicans, told Esquire earlier this month that he has “been outspoken about the billionaire megadonors who basically run our state government.”
Runaway Rep. James Talarico hasn’t shown up for work in over a week.
If spotted, return to Austin so Texas can pass critical legislation for flood relief and property tax cuts. pic.twitter.com/2wZvAqA5nR
— Governor Abbott Press Office (@GovAbbottPress) August 10, 2025
He railed against the donors in politics during an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” as well.
“Basically, every single Republican state senator in Texas has taken their money. Every single one. A majority of the Republicans in the state House have taken their money,” he said about donors Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. “They increasingly run this whole government here in Texas.”
Talarico spokesperson Antonio Esparza told Politico that, despite the lawmaker’s stand on campaign finance reform, “he will not unilaterally disarm and let Texas Republicans play by different rules” until there is a change in the law.
“Rep. Talarico believes our campaign finance system is deeply broken,” he said. “That’s why he filed legislation to cap campaign contribution limits in the state of Texas.”
Adelson’s PAC has reportedly donated to both Democrats and Republicans at the state level in a push to get Texas to legalize casino gambling. Talarico voted in 2023 in support of a measure allowing voters to decide the issue in a proposed constitutional amendment.
Talarico, a former middle school teacher, has supported legalizing casino gambling “his entire career,” according to Esparza, who said it “will bring good jobs and additional tax revenue” to Texas.
Talarico’s GOP-backed donations raised eyebrows and sparked criticisms of hypocrisy.
“It’s … hard to argue that you are a person who meets the moment when you are cashing checks from the person who funded Donald Trump more than anybody but Elon Musk,” said a national Democratic “operative,” according to Politico which said the source “is not involved in the Texas Senate race and was granted anonymity to speak frankly.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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