Texas, Republicans falter and James Talarico rekindles Dem hopes
From a diabetic coma to a bipartisan insulin bill to a Senate race. The story of a young congressman reopening the debate in a state less monolithic than it appears
When James Talarico wakes up after 36 hours in a coma - with a blood sugar level above 900 mg/dL and the official diagnosis of type 1 diabetes - he realises that his life will never be the same again. Not so much because he has to learn to live with the disease. But because he experiences first-hand what it means to be sick in the United States: $684 for 30 days of insulin, despite medical insurance. A collective wound that deserves a political response.
In the last twenty years, the average price of insulin in the US has tripled from a few dozen to hundreds of dollars per bottle. An anomaly compared to the rest of the industrialised world. So, three years later, in April 2021, Talarico filed HB 40, a bill to set the monthly cap on the cost of insulin at $50, a measure later reinforced by another piece of legislation that reduced it to $25. What is surprising is the result: a broad bipartisan support in the Texas Congress, in an era of extreme political polarisation.
Today, that wound returns to the centre of public debate. In the recent by-elections, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives thinned further, making each vote decisive and increasing the weight of individual districts. In historically red-leaning Texas, the Dems defended a key one in the Houston area. A result that, while not overturning the national balance, helps reinforce the idea of a state that is less monolithic than it appears.
"All eyes on" James Talarico. All eyes are on him. That is, on a possible interpreter of a different Texas, capable of speaking about social justice without renouncing the language of faith. Polls for the Senate indicate his steady growth, to the point of making him competitive against possible Republican candidates.
The Origins and Formation
Already a member of the Texas House of Representatives at the age of 28, Talarico was not an outsider at the time of his discovery of diabetes. He had walked almost 40 kilometres in his district, held door-to-door meetings, attended several town halls (the open public meetings, where an elected or candidate meets citizens directly). His campaign was already focused on the issues of public education, social justice and accessible healthcare.
