James Talarico is everywhere now. He’s on major television networks. He’s on the front page of news websites. He’s even been on the most popular podcast in America, The Joe Rogan Experience. But the one place he’s not, is in the Texas Capitol building, where his Republican adversaries in the State House of Representatives aim to redraw electoral districts in their favor ahead of the 2026 midterms.

The thirty-six-year-old middle-school teacher-turned-politician isn’t in Texas at all, actually. He’s in an Illinois hotel room no bigger than a college dorm, barely sleeping in a twin bed that faces a lonely sink, taking calls from the media and constituents back home. It’s not that he and his fellow Democratic representatives don’t want to be there. But without their presence in the stat

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