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Texas Senate candidate James Talarico (D) received a harsh reception from an attendee at his town hall in Houston on Sunday.
Video from the event, during which Talarico took questions for more than 90 minutes, captured by the Austin American-Statesman’s Faith Bugenhagen, shows a Black woman yelling, “So you stay here, you answer our questions or you suffer the consequences.”
Other attendees clapped in support of the woman’s remarks, while one man said, “Say it with your chest.”
When Talarico told the woman he appreciated her for traveling to attend the town hall, she replied, “I did it for my people, not for you.” The Democratic candidate said that was “wonderful,” while attendees murmured about her comment.
The Houston Chronicle reported attendees gave Talarico a standing ovation when he took the stage at the Kingdom Builders Center, with the Democratic nominee fielding questions about voting rights, issues impacting Black farmers and supporting Black candidates.
Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) also praised Talarico for speaking to Black Texans on Sunday.
“254 counties in TX and 90 mins is excellent!” Veasey wrote on the social platform X, referring to Talarico’s time taking questions.
“Like you said, ‘one attendee’….you will never, nor should you ever, make everyone happy,” he added. “And, you never know who the one person might have been.”
While Talarico defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) in March’s Democratic primary by more than 6 points, the latter won counties with large shares of Black voters — such as Harris County, which includes Houston, and Dallas County.
Talarico, meanwhile, won a majority of Hispanic voters in the March primary. A New York Times/Siena survey from last month found that support is translating to the general election match-up against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee, with Talarico receiving support from 61 percent of Hispanics.
Crockett endorsed Talarico shortly after she lost to him in March, but she has not joined him on the campaign trail despite telling KERA before the primary she would “absolutely” do so if he defeated her.
The second-term representative also did not attend the state party convention last month and told The Dallas Morning News she had “no idea” if she would campaign for Talarico.
During the town hall, Talarico said “there is no way to win” the Senate race in Texas without the support of the Black community, according to The Texan’s Mary Elise O’Bar.
“I’m committing to you here that we will be putting resources where our mouth is, and we’re going to be reaching out to these voters across the state so that we can win this race in November,” Talarico added.
He also praised Crockett, saying his supporters need to keep her name “out of your mouth,” according to The Texas Tribune.
“The congresswoman has been incredibly helpful,” he added. “She’s done more than she needed to do, and so I am demanding that anyone who claims to be a supporter of mine anywhere treat the congresswoman with the respect that she has earned.”
Updated at 5:40 p.m. EDT
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