Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico said he was "honored" to receive the endorsement of the Texas Organizing Project, calling the progressive activist organization's work "irreplaceable" — even though the group once operated a charitable bail fund that helped free a man later accused of murdering six people.
TOP endorsed Talarico's Senate campaign in May. According to Fox News Politics, the organization's charitable bail program had, by September 2021, distributed more than $1 million to secure the release of more than 675 defendants across Texas.
One of those defendants was Shane James. In March 2022, James was released after his bond was reduced to a combined $300, with TOP coordinating the bail payment alongside the Bexar County public defender's office. The day after his release, James cut off his court-ordered GPS monitor, prompting a court to issue three warrants for his re-arrest. He remained free for 21 months.
Authorities say James then carried out a series of attacks across San Antonio and Austin that left six people dead — including his own parents.
TOP acknowledged after the killings that it had bailed James out, stating that he had passed its screening process based on the misdemeanor charges he faced at the time. The organization stressed that bail funds cannot predict a defendant's future behavior.
"We acknowledge that our assessments cannot anticipate the future actions of individuals," TOP said following the killings, announcing it would conduct an internal review of the program.
Talarico, a Texas state representative, is challenging Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country, as Democrats try to break a decades-long losing streak in statewide Texas elections.
When TOP announced its endorsement, Talarico praised the group for spending more than 15 years building relationships in Black and Latino communities across Texas. The endorsement announcement said TOP members had met with Talarico before backing him, and the organization's leadership said the candidate had demonstrated familiarity with its work.
"I am honored to earn this endorsement," Talarico said at the time.
Defund Movement History Resurfaces
The bail fund revelation comes as Talarico's record on policing faces renewed scrutiny. A CNN Politics report published this week resurfaced comments Talarico made in late summer 2020, when he told a group of young progressive activists that it was "rich" that "defund the police" was considered taboo given Texas' history of defunding public schools.
Talarico made similar remarks during a 2020 virtual discussion with Texas Rising, a progressive youth activist group. According to Fox News Digital, the comments were made as protests and a national debate over policing swept the country following the death of George Floyd.
"As an educator, it's always rich to me that 'defund the police' is considered off-limits in our political debate, when defunding [schools has been standard practice]," Talarico said during the 2020 discussion.
The Talarico campaign is denying that he ever supported the defund the police movement. Campaign spokesperson JT Ennis told Fox News Digital that the comments were taken out of context by Talarico's critics after the remarks resurfaced Monday, and that Talarico supports law enforcement and first responders.
In a separate September 2020 interview with the local publication Honest Austin, Talarico echoed the same argument his campaign now says was taken out of context.
The scrutiny extends beyond Talarico's own record. Rep. Jasmine Crockett declined to endorse Talarico in the Senate race, months after he defeated her in the Democratic primary, according to VINnews. The prediction market Polymarket highlighted the non-endorsement.
Our Take
Here's the thing about bail funds: they're not charity. They're a political statement dressed up as mercy, and the people who run them know exactly what they're doing. When you post bond for hundreds of defendants with misdemeanor charges, you're not saving innocent people from an unjust system — you're gambling with other people's lives and calling it justice.
Shane James is the house coming down. He cut off his GPS monitor the day after TOP bailed him out. Three warrants were issued. He stayed free for 21 months. Then six people died, including his own parents.
" Maybe he means it. Maybe he just needed the endorsement. Either way, Texans deserve to know: when you accept the backing of an organization that helped put a man back on the street who's now accused of mass murder, what exactly are you honoring?
The Talarico campaign wants voters to believe his 2020 comments were taken out of context. He ran with the crowd that wanted to gut law enforcement. Now he's running for Senate in a state where people actually support the police.
And where's the Democratic establishment? Crockett won't endorse him. The national party is nowhere. Even they know this is a problem.
Patriots, this is what happens when you let activists run your criminal justice system. They tell you it's about fairness, about second chances. But nobody gave Shane James' victims a second chance. Not one of them.
If Talarico wants to represent Texas in the Senate, he needs to answer for every dollar that group spent and every life it put at risk. He needs to explain what he knew and when he knew it. And voters need to remember this in November.
What do you think? Should Talarico return the endorsement — or does this tell you everything you need to know about the Democrat Party in Texas?
