A masked James Talarico once declared his campaign “officially” a “non-meat campaign” and urged Americans to eat less beef for the planet. Now the Texas Democrat wants voters to believe he’s a barbecue-loving moderate as he runs for U.S. Senate.
His voting record tells a different story.
Talarico was one of the few state House members to vote against a bipartisan bill banning the sale of lab-grown “meat” in Texas, a measure that 14 of his fellow Democrats supported alongside 85 Republicans. The bill, which became law in September 2025, handed Texas cattle ranchers a major victory in their fight against synthetic protein products pushed by left-wing climate activists.
The legislation imposes a two-year moratorium on “offering for sale and the sale of cell-cultured protein for human consumption.” Ranchers argued the product is largely untested and threatens their livelihoods.
The industry group recently endorsed Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running against Talarico for the Senate seat.
Talarico’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on whether he stands by his vote or his current stance on lab-grown meat.
Throughout his Senate campaign, Talarico has been dogged by accusations of veganism based on years of anti-meat statements. The controversy forced him to stage photo ops eating meat and make proclamations that his campaign “runs on barbecue.”
But in 2022, Talarico sang a very different tune.
“It is now existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption, and that we try to respect animals in all aspects of society,” Talarico said while wearing a mask. “And so I am proud to say that our campaign has officially become a non-meat campaign. So we have, we are only buying vegan products from our local vegan businesses.”
The church Talarico attends in Austin encourages its congregants to “eat a plant-based diet for the planet’s health and yours.”
President Donald Trump called out the apparent flip-flop earlier this year. “I mean, this guy is bad news with his mask from relatively recently, and he’s a vegan. He’s a vegan. All of a sudden, he’s not a vegan,” Trump told reporters in May on Air Force One. “He was a vegan, now all of a sudden he’s not.”
Trump added: “I’ll tell you what I do think. I think the Democrats have a weird, a weird candidate. Six genders, a real hit on Jesus.”
