After seminary class, Talarico climbed into his truck and headed north on I-35 to his old district. At a food truck called Taqueria Jaguar’s, he ordered two bacon-and-egg breakfast tacos. “Why would anyone order any other kind of taco when breakfast tacos are an option,” he said.

The cashier refused to take his money, and the two seemed to know one another. At a table, he offered an explanation: A year ago, a tornado wiped out this same taco truck. Talarico, a frequent patron, reached out to his political donors, raising something like $8,000 for the family — his constituents — to get back on their feet.

During his campaigns, he walked 25 miles across the length of district twice, holding three town halls over 10 hours. But on the first of these walks, he started feeling nauseous and fatigued. He vomited multiple times during the walk — you can see him change shirts on a YouTube video he filmed of his campaigning — but finished the walk and went to bed. He didn’t wake up for 36 hours.

In a state of diabetic ketoacidosis, his parents rushed him to the emergency room, where his blood sugar was 10 times the normal limit. Doctors diagnosed him with diabetes, and he found out the insulin would cost him $684 a month.

He understood immediately the burden that cost would place on his constituents, so he wrote a Twitter thread about the experience that received more than 50,000 retweets. But he attempted to back that up with real change, authoring and passing a bill that capped insulin copays at $25 a month. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law. He’s already notched serious bipartisan accomplishments in his two terms. In his first session, his name touched no fewer than 112 pieces of legislation; 25 became law.

What’s the frenetic pace of legislation all add up to? “I am looking forward to running statewide,” Talarico said. In another conversation, he told me that “Ted Cruz would be fun to debate.” Talarico and his advisers have discussed possibly challenging Cruz next year or Gov. Greg Abbott in 2026. But those close to him say he’s leaning toward a bid against the governor, especially now that Rep. Colin Allred has entered the race against Cruz. Talarico is expected to launch a statewide political action committee, Big and Bright PAC, later this year.

But beyond the mechanics of picking his moment, he told me he is far more interested in reshaping how Texas Democrats talk about their values to voters.

“In our political discourse, you see a white, straight Christian, male Democrat, who’s talking about religion, talking about family values, talking about Texas exceptionalism, and you start to think they are Republican light,” he said. “There’s a theory that that’s how Democrats win, just making themselves more like Republicans. And I reject that.”