Meet James Talarico
James is an eighth-generation Texan, former middle school teacher, and Presbyterian seminarian. As a state representative, he's led the fight against the billionaire mega-donors and puppet politicians who have taken over Texas.
Now, he's running for U.S. Senate to take his fight against corruption to Washington and win power back for working people.
Before entering politics, James was a public school teacher. He taught sixth grade Language Arts at Rhodes Middle School on the westside of San Antonio.
The westside is a beautiful, historic Mexican-American neighborhood. It's also one of the poorest zip codes in Texas. Every day, his students struggled heroically to overcome poverty and systems designed to hold them back.
James first ran for the Texas House in 2018 to fight for his constituents — people like his mom and his students. It was a district no one thought he could win, but together, he and his community flipped a district Donald Trump had won just two years earlier.
As a legislator, James has led the fight against the billionaire mega-donors who have rigged the system against working Texas families. He's also the only member of the Texas Legislature who has never taken corporate PAC money.
Now, as those same billionaire mega-donors take over the federal government, James believes Washington needs more fighters who will take power back for working people.
Meet Mark Nair
Mark Nair is a husband, father, former City Councilman, inventor, entrepreneur, educator, and 30-year Amarillo resident running to be your local voice in Congress. Mark is committed to representing each and every citizen of Congressional District 13 and returning the voice of our district to the people. Regardless of party line, Mark will unite the district through policies that work for everyone.
The Texans of CD-13 deserve a leader who lives here, listens to the people, and will fight for them—and Mark is ready to deliver. Knowing that this country was founded "of the People, by the People, and for the People" Mark will fight to ensure that your interests—as working class Americans—are served, and not the whims of billionaires, big corporations, or political strongmen.
Mark is an inventor and entrepreneur with multiple patents. Committed to giving back, Mark pours into future leaders by guiding startups at the Texas Tech Innovation Hub and the National Science Foundation. A member of the National Academy of Inventors, he delivers creative solutions to real-world problems. As an educator, Mark earned the 2020 Faculty Excellence Award at Amarillo College, where he taught Economics and Software Development. Next, in Congress, Mark will bring that same drive for innovation to tackle long-standing challenges and improve the lives of all Americans.
Meet Leilani Barnett
A Native Texan, Leilani Barnett makes her home in Wichita Falls, and her roots in this district go back to her great-great grandparents. “My mother and her siblings grew up in Clay County,” she says proudly, “as did her parents and their parents.” Her father grew up in Nocona where Leilani's grandfather, silversmith W.D. Barnett, designed and made cowboy spurs under the McChesney mark for the Nocona Boot Company.
A political writer and teacher with more than 31 years of experience, Leilani Barnett holds a Bachelor’s degree with a double major in Journalism and English; an MA in Educational Leadership; and an MA in Literature. She's now in the last phase of completing a Ph.D. in Education.
In fact, it is her commitment to education that first motivated Barnett to run for the Texas House of Representatives. “Without fully-funded public schools, we turn off the lights on the bright future of our children."
In addition to her professional experiences in education and leadership at local, state, and national levels, Leilani Barnett previously worked with the National Children’s Advocacy Center, training police officers, attorneys, social workers, mental health and medical professionals in more than 22 cities across the United States. Leilani wrote national curricula on a multidisciplinary team approach that reduces trauma for victims of child abuse. She cares deeply about the issues facing the children and the hard-working families who love and care for them.
Meet Gina Hinojosa
Gina began her career as an advocate for families and workers as a civil rights and union lawyer. She represented hard working Texans fighting to make sure they were treated fairly, got the wages and benefits they earned, and helping them support their families.
Gina has a long history of holding corrupt politicians accountable. In 2005, she was part of the legal team that sued House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on money laundering charges, and has been a constant corruption watchdog in the Legislature.
Gina never planned on running for office. But when her son’s elementary school was threatened for closure by state budget cuts, Gina rallied other parents, ran for Austin ISD School Board—and won. She kept her son’s school open, along with every other public school in the district. Her fellow trustees appointed her Board President in 2015.
A fierce champion of working Texans, Gina has been fighting back against billionaires and corporate interests in the legislature for a decade, pushing the state to invest in neighborhood schools, expand health care access, and lower costs for Texans.
Now, Gina is taking the fight directly to Greg Abbott, running against him for Texas State Governor.
Meet Riley Rodriquez
Riley Rodriquez is a performance coach who runs a small service business in the heart of District 28, Abilene, Texas. Rodriquez grew up in the area; his father was a ranch hand and his mother was a probation officer. Ranch life instilled in him an understanding of what a strong work ethic can do for you and the resilience of a working-class family. He is running for District 28 Texas State Senator.
Rodriquez has worked every job Texas is known for — cowboying, oilfield hand, and business owner — all while continuing his higher education, currently finishing his degree at Texas Tech.
He is a working-class candidate who knows how it feels to live paycheck to paycheck, to choose between gas or groceries, what one sharp drop in oil prices can mean for workers, and the desperate feeling that it doesn't have to be this way.
He knows the obstacles everyday Texans face throughout the district: the pressures of rising housing prices, stagnating wages, higher bills, and public education becoming a game of politics.
Rodriquez is not standing by. It's time for a better quality of life for all of us. He is Riley Rodriquez, and he's asking for your vote for State Senator of Texas District 28.
Meet Clayton Tucker
Clayton Tucker is running for Texas Agriculture Commissioner. He works on his family's farm near Lampasas, Texas, raising cattle, goats, donkeys, and more, continuing a tradition of farming and ranching that spans several generations of his family.
Before entering the race, Tucker built a career as an organizer and small business owner. He served as Secretary of the Texas Farmers Union and has spent years fighting corporate control of the economy and government, including efforts to stop Big Tech from rigging international trade rules. Earlier in his career, he worked as a water researcher and a teacher. He currently owns two small businesses.
As a candidate, Tucker has made opposing irresponsible data center development a central issue in his campaign, warning that unchecked AI and data center growth threatens to drive up water and power costs, deplete water wells, and fail to deliver lasting jobs for Texans. He has pledged that, on his first day as Agriculture Commissioner, he would issue "Ag Impact Studies" requiring data centers to disclose their resource consumption, and would help local communities establish "Ag Development Districts" to fight back against harmful projects.
Tucker frames his campaign around uniting working Texans, of every background and hometown, against what he describes as a system of "organized money" that pits communities against one another for the benefit of a few.
© Copyright 2026. Wichita County Democratic Party. All Rights Reserved.