A resurfaced video from 2020 shows U.S. Senate Democratic candidate James Talarico praising former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro for raising taxes on residents to fund full-day pre-K programs.
During a 2020 campaign event for Castro, who was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, Talarico praised the former mayor’s decision to increase local taxes in San Antonio.
“In my first year of teaching, Mayor Castro staked his entire political career on a proposal to raise local taxes, in order to fund full-day pre-K across the city of San Antonio,” Talarico said in the video. “They teach you that that’s a no-no on your first day of politician school. But the mayor did it anyway, and that’s why I told my students to be like the mayor.”
However, Talarico’s comments in 2020 are not the only statements he has made regarding taxes.
In a 2025 appearance on the podcast “It’s Open with Llana Glazer,” Talarico criticized President Donald Trump’s Working Families Tax Cut bill, which included provisions eliminating taxes on tips, overtime income, Social Security benefits, and auto loan interest.
“President Trump and his Republican allies passed that (Working Families Tax Cut bill). That’s going to kick millions of Texans off their health care. It’s going to take food out of the mouths of hungry Texas children,” said Talarico. “All to give more tax breaks to their billionaire donors. It is the largest transfer of wealth in American history from the bottom and the middle all the way to the top.”
According to an analysis by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, 97% of tax filers received a tax cut during the filing season. Through the April filing deadline, American families and workers claimed $82 billion in individual tax relief under the legislation.
During his tenure in the Texas Legislature, Talarico also voted against House Joint Resolution 38, which proposed a constitutional amendment prohibiting a state income tax, and Senate Bill 2, which required voter approval before local governments could raise property taxes.
“Talarico has never met a tax hike he didn’t like,” said a spokesperson for Ken Paxton for Senate. “He voted against protecting Texans from a state income tax, voted against making it harder to raise property taxes, opposed the largest tax cut in history for Texas families, and tried to drive away 475,000 jobs in the oil and gas industry.”
