Texas Democratic Senator-elect James Talarico said Wednesday he is ready to work with President Donald Trump on issues, including border security, lowering energy costs and cutting housing regulations.
Speaking on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” after his victory over Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Tuesday night, Talarico discussed several areas of potential cooperation with the president.
“I think there’s a wide variety of issues that we could work together on,” Talarico said.
“Immigration is one of them. I think trying to pass comprehensive immigration reform that includes border security … give the president credit where credit is due. He has done a better job than the previous administration in securing our border,” he added.
Talarico, who defeated Paxton by over ten points, said Congress must create more legal pathways for immigrants who want to come to the United States. He also expressed interest in working with Trump to reduce housing regulations, pointing to the president’s background as a real estate developer.
“I also want to work with the president on housing. He’s a builder, and we need to cut the red tape, the regulation that sometimes my party has been guilty of, so that we can build millions of new homes in this country,” Talarico said.
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Beyond housing and immigration, Talarico said he also wants to work with Trump to suspend federal gas and diesel taxes to lower fuel costs.
“He and I both support suspending the federal gas tax and the federal diesel tax,” Talarico said, noting the move would lower fuel costs by “18 cents a gallon immediately.”
Criminal justice reform was another area Talarico said offers common ground.
“Last one I’ll mention is I agree with the president on the need to legalize marijuana and reform this broken criminal justice system,” Talarico said.
“These are just some of the issues that I agree full-heartedly with President Trump, and I look forward to working with him for all 31 million Texans.”
Talarico also rejected the idea of pursuing political retribution in Washington, saying his priority would be delivering results for his constituents.
“I am not interested in retribution,” Talarico said.
“The people of Texas did not elect me last night for retribution,” he continued. “They elected me to deliver for them to make their lives easier and better and less stressful.”
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Trump had endorsed Paxton before Talarico’s victory, which gave Democrats their first U.S. Senate seat in Texas since 1988. On Tuesday night, Talarico announced his victory on X, writing simply, “We just took back Texas.”
Trump spoke with Fox News Channel on election night, expressing surprise at several race results but also signaling a willingness to work with Democrats.
“They’ll send over things that are insane, and I’ll veto them,” Trump said. “And after a couple of months of vetoes, they’ll go out, and they’ll say, ‘How do we get this stuff done?’ And we’ll work together.”
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Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
