Talarico Courted Silicon Valley Donors In Multi-day Bay Area Trip

James Talarico has campaigned against the influence of billionaires in politics. Yet facing a must-win Senate race that could shatter spending records in one of the country’s biggest states, he’s turning to wealthy tech donors for help.

Talarico attended at least four Bay Area fundraisers with prominent Democratic Party donors with ties to the tech industry in mid-April, according to copies of the invitations obtained by POLITICO, one donor and one Democratic aide with knowledge of the gatherings. They were granted anonymity to discuss private events.

Talarico has vowed not to accept any corporate PAC money and backed a ban on super PACs as his race against Republican Ken Paxton accelerates toward what could be one of the most expensive Senate races in U.S. history and will determine the balance of power in Washington. Donations from the fundraisers, which have not been previously reported, were accepted on behalf of Talarico’s campaign committee, not any super PAC.

Two super PACs, Moment of Truth PAC and Lone Star Rising PAC, have collectively pledged to spend big for Talarico. He also previously accepted PAC money in his last campaign for the state legislature. At the time, a spokesperson told POLITICO that Talarico would not “unilaterally disarm and let Texas Republicans play by different rules” while he pushed for stricter campaign finance legislation.

Federal law prohibits the groups from coordinating directly with the campaign.

“We already know who we’re running against: The billionaire megadonors and their corrupt political system,” Talarico said in his primary night victory speech in March.

Talarico’s campaign pointed to his public comments supporting stricter campaign finance regulations.

“James is the only candidate who’s outlined a comprehensive agenda to ban super PACs, ban corporate PACs, ban congressional stock trading and tax billionaires so we can fix this broken, corrupt political system,” Talarico spokesperson JT Ennis said in a statement to POLITICO. “If anyone supports taxing billionaires more and limiting big money’s influence on our politics, they’re welcome to help defeat politicians like Ken Paxton, who rake in millions of dollars from special interests then enrich wealthy donors while working Texans struggle.”

Paxton campaign spokesperson Madison Cercy called the fundraisers “just another chapter in James Talarico’s saga of lying and hypocrisy as he runs a flip-flopping campaign across the state of Texas.”

Talarico is nonetheless a prolific fundraiser: As of March, Talarico had raised over $40.3 million — almost entirely from small-dollar donors — and had $9.9 million cash on hand. Paxton raised $7.6 million over the same period, ending with $2.3 million in cash.

Talarico’s surge of small-dollar support — his campaign boasts that 97 percent of donations have been $100 or less — has suggested to donors that his campaign has genuine traction among the grassroots.

Total spending on the Senate campaign could dwarf those figures if super PACs and other deep-pocketed groups supporting both sides pour their money into the race: One Democratic fundraiser has estimated that the Talarico-Paxton general election may consume more than $550 million, POLITICO reported last month — on top of the massive spending that Republicans already poured into Paxton’s primary fight against Republican Sen. John Cornyn.

The possibility of a Democrat winning one of Texas’ Senate seats — a goal the party last achieved in 1988 — has fired up donors in the party’s Silicon Valley circles, the donor said.

Talarico’s fundraisers, held April 15 to 17, were hosted across the Bay Area in Palo Alto, the Mission District of San Francisco, Oakland and Marin County, according to the invites. Venture capitalists, Democratic donors, political operatives and activists made up the host committees.

David Rusenko, former CEO and founder of Weebly and partner at climate tech fund Leap Forward Ventures, helped to host one of the fundraisers alongside fellow Leap Forward Ventures partner Jessica Alter, according to the invites. Alter also advises AI startups at Blue Flame, a leadership firm that builds sales and marketing infrastructure for AI software companies.

Neither responded to requests for comment.

Donors’ interest in Talarico has also been piqued by his ability to weave religious undertones into a traditional Democratic message and his knack for generating viral moments, the donor said.

During an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast last year, Talarico pushed back against a Texas law mandating that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public schools while appealing to an audience who feel the current political system is not working for them. The podcast appearance, which has racked up more than 1.3 million views on YouTube, helped propel Talarico into the national spotlight.

Silicon Valley has proven itself to be a vital wellspring for national Democrats seeking elected office.

Former President Joe Biden made several fundraising appearances in the area while running for president in 2019. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries last year also attempted to repair the party’s relationships with the deep-pocketed executives, which had frayed amid the tech industry’s complaints about Biden’s antitrust policies.

President Donald Trump secured the financial backing of some of the tech industry’s biggest names in 2024 — a source of cash that was pivotal to his return to the White House.

The tech industry has also flexed its muscle locally, pouring unprecedented sums in an attempt to elect industry-friendly allies to the California Legislature and secure its place as a power center in regulatory debates.