Talarico bets on hemp to win over Texas swing voters

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Polis. Fetterman. Trump. And now, Talarico. 

The list of politicians who have backed some sort of cannabis liberalization in a close campaign is long and diverse. Texas state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate, became the latest on August 3 when he announced he opposed a state ban on intoxicating hemp products that recently took effect.

“Texans will still use THC, but instead of getting it safely from a local small business, they will now get it from the black market - from the drug cartels,” said Talarico in a video posted to X, also calling the ban “a gift to the cartels” and “the nanny state at its worst.”

The move could help Talarico with moderates, younger voters, independents, libertarians and swing voters, two strategists tell Cultivated. 

“It could help him at the margins, and in a close race like this, the margins matter,” said Brendan Steinhauser, a Texas-based GOP strategist. “[Talarico] knows that there are more Republicans than Democrats in this state, and so he has to go find those niche audiences. And this is one of them.”

Talarico tailored his hemp messaging to his red state, making sure to refer to hemp producers and shops selling hemp products as “local small businesses.” He also criticized the Republican Party for acting as “big government.” 

“I thought the Republican Party believed in limited government and personal responsibility,” he said in the video, which was clipped from a speech in the state legislature. 

The Talarico campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

Talarico’s statement came just days after the Texas Supreme Court ruled the state could classify hemp-derived synthetic cannabinoids such as Delta-8 as a Schedule I controlled substance. At the same time, hemp is front-and-center in the chamber of Congress that Talarico wishes to join. Hemp policy became perhaps the biggest topic in the U.S. Senate last week, after an attempt to strip a one-month delay on the looming ban for hemp-derived THC products in a federal funding bill failed in a late-night showdown. The bill now heads to the House. 

Marijuana, or cannabis with more than 0.3 percent Delta-9 THC, is illegal in Texas. Hemp, or cannabis with less than 0.3 percent Delta-9 THC, was federally legalized by the 2018 Farm Bill. Texas adopted the hemp regulations in 2019, unknowingly opening the door to hemp-derived THC products. The legality of those products in Texas has been mired in the courts since a 2021 rule issued by the Department of State Health Services prohibited “potent levels” of delta-8 THC in consumable hemp products. 

The ban will not completely eliminate all hemp products, just those that are intoxicating, says Jonathan Miller of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable. In Texas, there are estimated to be nearly 28,000 jobs in the hemp industry, according to a 2023 report by Whitney Economics. A  “significant” portion of those are in hemp-based THC products, Miller explains.

Miller said the hemp industry, which often takes a backseat to the more famous and less federally legal state-by-state cannabis industry, was pleased to see Talarico’s position.

“It's been rare to see somebody really get publicly on the issue, on our side,” Miller said. “I think what it demonstrates is that you know Talarico recognizes it's not only the right thing to do, but it's also maybe a strong political issue, and that's very encouraging for all of us.”

Anti-legalization groups, meanwhile, were quick to criticize Talarico’s position. “Talarico seems to be trapped in 2020. He repeats claims we know are totally false,” Smart Approaches to Marijuana VP Luke Niforatos said on X.

Cannabis reform has proven successful as a niche wedge issue for other Democrats in the past: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis harnessed the nascent cannabis industry in his state during his first gubernatorial bid in 2018, and Sen. John Fetterman wove it into his “man of the people” image during his primary race against Conor Lamb in 2022. 

“It's a position that can appeal to younger voters, independents, and even some moderate Republicans, without necessarily alienating voters who simply want sensible regulation or support,” said Sal Pace, a former Colorado strategist who worked with Polis on his outreach to the cannabis industry in 2018. 

President Donald Trump also notably came out in support of cannabis legalization in Florida, and a loosening of federal cannabis laws, ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Talarico leaned into this, drawing a contrast between the president’s position and that of Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee. Paxton is one of the primary defendants in a lawsuit challenging the state’s ban on intoxicating hemp.

Cannabis legalization’s waning popularity, however, could make the issue less salient for Talarico than for politicians like Trump who came before him. Public support for legalization has cooled recently, dipping to 64 percent in 2025, down from a high of 70 percent in 2023 and 68 percent in 2024, according to Gallup.

When asked if Talarico’s outspoken position on hemp could help him with swing voters, Republicans pointed to the state representative’s other positions that they believe will hurt him more than cannabis could help him.

“Talarico’s views on hemp can’t undo his pledge to eliminate Texas’ oil and gas industries,” one Republican operative told Cultivated. 

Pace and Steinhauser, however, both noted that Texans will be increasingly hyperaware of this issue since the ban went into place on July 31. Banning a product with a preexisting industry and consumer base could make it more salient for certain voters and give Talarico an opening, they argue.

“Now you have a constituency that is in that business that wasn't there a few years ago, and … they have a vested interest,” Steinhauser said. “When you take something away from people that they already have, that's when they get upset.”

Edited by Jeremy Berke