James Talarico, the most outspoken Texas Democrat in the recent redistricting fight and a vocal advocate for getting money out of politics, has been taking donations from a Republican casino billionaire with a history of donating to President Trump.
State Representative James Talarico’s largest campaign contribution in 2024, totaling $59,000, came from casino mogul Miriam Adelson, the widow of longtime Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson. This contribution, made through her Texas Sands PAC, establishes Adelson as Talarico’s most significant donor in the current election cycle, according to Fox News.
A representative from his office jumped to defend the donation, telling Politico he may oppose big donations influencing policy, "he will not unilaterally disarm and let Texas Republicans play by different rules." "Rep. Talarico believes our campaign finance system is deeply broken. That’s why he filed legislation to cap campaign contribution limits in the state of Texas." In 2024, he proposed legislation that would cap donations to state lawmakers in Texas at $10,000.
Adelson’s PAC has consistently supported both Democratic and Republican candidates at the state level in Texas, in an effort to legalize casino gambling. For all his talk, Talarico, in 2023, voted in favor of legislation that would have allowed voters to decide on casino legalization through a Texas constitutional amendment.
Representative Talarico was also one of the Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to try and stop Texas Republicans from redrawing the state's Congressional districts.
Texas State Rep. Talarico: We're breaking quorum because this is different. Trump has asked Texas Republicans to redraw the Texas maps to get him 5 more seats. They're doing it in the middle of the decade. This is like 2 teams coming out of the locker room at halftime and the… pic.twitter.com/4KvG8x1UAS
— FactPost (@factpostnews) August 4, 2025
Trump threatened to arrest us.
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) August 8, 2025
Abbott threatened to remove us from office.
Paxton threatened to “hunt” us down.
Yesterday, we received a bomb threat.
But we will not back down. pic.twitter.com/xnQJAHP4iN