James Talarico, a Democrat and U.S. Senate candidate, has centered his campaign around a bold message: he is fighting for ordinary Texans against billionaires.
However, a super PAC that supports his campaign is now facing criticism for accepting large donations from billionaires, including one who has publicly acknowledged ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Lone Star Rising PAC, which supports Talarico’s candidacy, received $500,000 from Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder and vocal Democrat megadonor, in late January 2026, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Department of Justice documents released in January 2026 revealed that Hoffman visited Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, his New Mexico ranch, and his Manhattan apartment.
Hoffman also reportedly gifted Epstein a bag that inadvertently contained his passport, and internal emails showed Hoffman joking about sending Epstein ice cream “for the girls,” according to a New York Post report.
Other major donors to Lone Star Rising include Houston philanthropist Susan Sarofim, widow of the late billionaire investment manager Fayez Sarofim, who contributed $100,000 to the PAC. Sarofim’s late husband’s estate was estimated at more than $20 billion, per the Houston Chronicle.
During the Democratic primary, Lone Star Rising received an additional $500,000 from Hoffman, along with contributions from hedge fund manager Stephen Mandel, Hyatt Hotel heir Adam Pritzker, Eagles drummer Don Henley, former Biden White House official Cristobal Alex, and private equity billionaire Mark Heising.
The PAC is run by Alexander Clark, whom Talarico has publicly described as a close friend for nearly two decades. Both men have spoken about their long friendship in posts that have since been deleted, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
The donors behind Lone Star Rising seem to sit at odds with the Talarico campaign’s defining message.
On his website’s “Why I’m Running” page, Talarico says pushing back against billionaire influence is one of the main reasons he decided to run, writing that his campaign is going “up against these billionaire mega-donors and their puppet politicians” and that “billionaires want us looking left and right at each other instead of looking up at them.”
At a campaign event this year, Talarico added on to that message, saying: “We already have class warfare in this country – billionaires are waging war on the rest of us.”
A young man at our town hall asked if I was pushing class warfare.
I told him: “We already have class warfare in this country — billionaires are waging war on the rest of us.” pic.twitter.com/w238OfB8yH
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) February 12, 2026
On the subject of Epstein, Talarico has also been vocal online.
Last year, he questioned when “pedophilia became a partisan issue” and said Americans deserve to know “every name and every powerful person” connected to Epstein – a group that, based on DOJ documents, would appear to include his donor, Hoffman.
In response, RNC spokesman Zach Kraft said, “Saying one thing and doing another is typical sleazy politician behavior. James Talarico is a total hypocrite who talks a big game but it’s a different story once he sits down behind closed doors with special interests.”
Talarico Campaign Responds:
The Talarico Campaign’s team provided the following statement to The Dallas Express:
“The only way to stop super PACs like these is to vote out politicians like John Cornyn and Ken Paxton who want corporations and billionaires to decide our elections, not Texans. James is the only candidate that’s outlined a comprehensive agenda to ban super PACs, ban corporate PACs, ban congressional stock trading, and tax billionaires so we can fix this broken, corrupt political system.
While billionaire-bought politicians like John Cornyn and Ken Paxton rake in millions of dollars from special interests and enrich their wealthy donors while working Texans struggle – James will continue building this people-powered movement that rejects all corporate PAC money and earns support from 246 Texas counties and 540,000 working people,” spokesperson JT Ennis added.
