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Faith is a centerpiece of Texas Senate candidate James Talarico's campaign

James Talarico, Texas' Democratic Senate nominee, is putting faith at the center of his campaign. Republicans are pushing back. Control over the U.S. Senate hangs in the balance.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

The Democratic nominee for a Senate seat in Texas, James Talarico, is making faith a centerpiece of his campaign. He's focusing on biblical reasons to support health care, veterans and immigrants. NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose spent time on the Talarico campaign trail to learn how that message is playing with voters.

JASON DEROSE, BYLINE: At Brentwood Baptist Church in southwest Houston, Reverend Erick Powers welcomes his congregation to Sunday worship.

ERICK POWERS: Good morning, Brentwood.

UNIDENTIFIED CHURCHGOERS: Good morning.

POWERS: It's a good day to be in the house of the Lord, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR: (Singing) Guide me, oh, thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land.

DEROSE: Politics at Brentwood Baptist is nothing new and it's bipartisan. The Secretary of Education under George W. Bush, Rod Paige, was a member here. A picture of the senior pastor flanked by Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden hangs in a hallway. On this Sunday, Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico stands at the pulpit.

JAMES TALARICO: I want to speak to you this morning, not as a candidate, but as a fellow Christian. My granddad was a Baptist preacher in south Texas. And when I was real little, he told me that Christianity is a simple religion.

DEROSE: Simple, he says, but not easy.

TALARICO: Because Jesus gave us two commandments to follow. Love God and love neighbor.

DEROSE: Talarico is a state representative in the Texas House, a former middle school teacher and a student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. This morning, Talarico preaches on a passage from the Gospel of Luke.

TALARICO: Sometimes we see the world most clearly through our tears. If your heart is breaking as you watch what's happening to our beloved country, it means you still have a heart. So blessed are you who weep.

DEROSE: In response to Talarico's appeals to people of faith, Republicans have come out swinging. Here's Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick at the state's GOP convention earlier this year.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DAN PATRICK: I've never seen so much blasphemy from anyone running for office. And let me tell you what. I'm going to pray for that guy because when he loses the Senate race, if he campaigns against God as he's been doing, he's going to hell for sure.

(CHEERING)

DEROSE: Talarico has taken those attacks and incorporated them into his campaign as a whole and his message at Brentwood this morning.

TALARICO: The real blasphemy is kicking the sick off their health care to fund tax cuts for billionaires.

DEROSE: Sitting in one of the pews is Candice Stroud (ph). She's been a member here at Brentwood Baptist for more than 40 years. Stroud's enthusiastic about the way Talarico embraces his faith.

CANDICE STROUD: I think Democrats have been talking about religion for years. It's just nobody wants to listen to us if you don't say what they want to hear.

DEROSE: When you say they, what do you mean?

STROUD: The Republicans, basically. They don't want to hear that we are Christians, we go to church, we believe in the Bible.

DEROSE: And Talarico's Christianity, Stroud says, sounds a lot like her own. The reality for Democrats, though, is that a lot of the party isn't religious. Nationwide, less than a third of Democrats, according to Pew Research, say religion is very important to them.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: What a beautiful crowd.

DEROSE: Later that afternoon at a democratic town hall not far from Brentwood Baptist, Talarico's message sounds less like a sermon and more like one meant to reassure a more secular assembly, crucial to building a winning coalition.

TALARICO: My faith is central in my life. But I also know that the most dangerous form of government is theocracy, because the only thing worse than a tyrant is a tyrant who thinks they're on a mission from God.

DEROSE: That's the misguided mission, he says, of the Trump administration.

TALARICO: That is what we've seen from the Department of Defense. We have seen Christian nationalism infiltrate our Defense Department from Secretary Hegseth.

DEROSE: Talarico is a vocal opponent of Christian nationalism, the idea that America is a Christian nation and government should promote Christianity, which has led his Republican opponent in the Senate race, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, to accuse Talarico of not being a real Christian. Here's Paxton speaking at a campaign rally in July.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KEN PAXTON: We cannot let Texas turn based on a deceiver like James Talarico, who does not want the world to know who he really is.

DEROSE: Paxton is also running as a person of faith, appealing to conservative evangelicals. The race is close, and Republicans see it as key in keeping control of the Senate.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE ON TOP")

BEYONCÉ: (Singing) Finally, you put my love on top.

DEROSE: Many of the nearly 700 people packed into this Democratic town hall hold signs or wear T-shirts that read on the front, Talarico for Texas, and on the back, love thy neighbor. Taking in these messages is 40-year-old nurse practitioner Brandon Sterling (ph).

BRANDON STERLING: I would say I'm more spiritual than religious. The only thing I do religiously is I get up, I go to work and go to the gym (laughter).

DEROSE: Sterling's pragmatic about what it will take for a Democrat to get elected statewide in Texas.

STERLING: We're here in the South, you know? A lot of people lead their political views with their religious views, if you will. So if this is how you have to reach the greatest amount of people, then so be it. It doesn't offend me at all.

DEROSE: What plays at a political rally or at a church, however, isn't necessarily what plays on the streets.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOORBELL CHIMING)

DEROSE: On a blistering Saturday afternoon in Houston's Montrose neighborhood, a couple of dozen people are out canvassing for James Talarico and other Democrats.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Hi.

MADISON VEGA: Hi there. My name is Madison, and I'm a volunteer with Texas Together.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: OK.

DEROSE: Among them is Madison Vega (ph). Her grandfather, like James Talarico's, was a Baptist preacher. After going to college, she drifted away from religion. But she's knocking on doors in part because of Talarico's appeal to people of faith.

VEGA: Part of the reason that I've kind of lost my closeness, I guess, to the church is just that I've kind of heard a lot of divisive messaging from church when I was growing up. And I like the way he doesn't use Christianity as a weapon.

DEROSE: One of the doors Vega knocks on belongs to Kristen Cott (ph). Improving schools and the recent flooding in her neighborhood are the issues she cares about most. When I ask Cott about James Talarico's focus on faith...

KRISTEN COTT: Talking about religion, as it relates to policy and things like that, I would be turned off by.

DEROSE: Why is that?

COTT: Because I don't think religion should play into government and politics at all. I thought the country was founded on that.

DEROSE: In order to win in Texas, Talarico will need to win over skeptics like Cott, believers at Brentwood Baptist and the many others somewhere in between.

Jason DeRose, NPR News, Houston.

(SOUNDBITE OF GRAILS' "CHALICE HYMNAL")

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