Talarico’s 'Mentor' and Pastor Talks His Radical Economic Agenda

The most interesting thing about James Talarico isn’t his polished campaign ads or his talk of faith and community. It’s the man he calls his mentor: Rev. Jim Rigby, the pastor at the Austin church where Talarico has sat in the pews since he was two years old. That’s a 35-year relationship, not a campaign stunt. And according to The Christian Post, Rigby is out there talking a radical economic agenda that would make the Squad blush.

Look, there’s nothing wrong with a pastor caring about poverty or fairness. But Rigby isn’t offering Sunday-school platitudes. He’s pushing economic ideas that sound a lot like class-warfare socialism dressed up in clerical robes. And Talarico, who wants to present himself as a reasonable Texas Democrat, isn't distancing himself — he's calling the man his mentor. Voters should take that seriously. A politician’s mentors say a lot about what they actually believe when the cameras are off.

Part of the problem is how Talarico runs from it. He’ll talk about his church upbringing to sound values-driven, but he won't come clean about what his spiritual guide really teaches. If Rigby's economic vision is so great, let Talarico defend it himself. Instead, we get the softer version — faith and family, without the redistributionist fine print.

Texans know a bait-and-switch when they see one. This isn’t about Rigby’s credentials as a pastor; it’s about who’s shaping the man who wants to be senator. Talarico may have grown up in that church, but he’s asking us to ignore what his mentor preaches. That’s not honest, and it’s not leadership. It’s just another Democrat hoping Texas won’t notice the radical in the room.