On Tuesday, state Representative James Talarico announced he would be entering the U.S. Senate race. One of the more gifted members of the very right-wing Legislature, Talarico puts a new face on an age-old dilemma: How does a young, ambitious Texas Democrat move up and out of the miserable trenches of the Lege and into high office? But before we explore that question, let’s take stock of the race for U.S. Senate.

This complex showdown has been shaping up to be one of the most interesting—and potentially consequential—races in many election cycles, and Talarico’s entrance makes it even more so. On the Republican side, Senator John Cornyn—a longtime fixture in Texas politics who represents an endangered old guard brand of corporate conservatism—faces an existential threat in Ken Paxton,

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