Is James Talarico Married? What to Know About the Texas Senator-Elect's Longtime Girlfriend, Brianna Menard

Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton in Texas’ U.S. Senate race on Nov. 3, according to projections by the Associated Press and NBC News cited by USA TODAY. After the win, many readers want to know about his personal life, starting with whether the senator-elect has a wife. Based on recent reporting, he is not married. USA TODAY and People both describe Brianna Menard as his longtime girlfriend.

This article sticks to what credible outlets have reported. Talarico’s campaign has asked the public to respect Menard’s privacy as a private citizen, People reported.

Is James Talarico married?

Neither USA TODAY nor People describes Talarico as married. Both refer to Menard as his girlfriend or partner. USA TODAY reported that Talarico “will head to Washington, DC, with his longtime girlfriend, Brianna Menard.” Neither outlet reported an engagement or any children, and this article doesn’t speculate beyond that.

On “The Jamie Kern Lima Show” podcast, Talarico called Menard “his rock.” “I don’t know if I could have gotten through the last six months of this crazy race if she hadn’t been by my side,” he said, as quoted by USA TODAY.

Who is Brianna Menard?

Here is what the two outlets reported:

• Current job: She is the director of TEXPAC and Political Education at the Texas Medical Association, according to her biography on the committee’s website. TEXPAC describes itself as a bipartisan political action committee that works to elect “medicine-friendly candidates at the state and federal levels.”
• Legislative career: People reported that she spent about a decade in various jobs in the Texas Legislature, including executive director of the Texas House’s Early Childhood Caucus.
• Background: People said she is a native Texan and attended the University of Texas at Austin.

How did Talarico and Menard meet?

Menard once worked for Talarico. She met him while serving as his chief of staff, Talarico said on the podcast. The campaign confirmed the relationship to The New York Times in August.

“Four years ago, after he and his then-chief of staff developed feelings for each other and started dating, she left the office to pursue other opportunities,” campaign spokesman JT Ennis told the Times, as quoted by both USA TODAY and People.

After she left his office, Menard worked to elect state Rep. Salman Bhojani, the first Muslim member of the Texas Legislature, and then became his chief of staff, according to a 2023 post on X by Talarico.

Why did Menard come up during the campaign?

People reported that she was publicly identified as Talarico’s girlfriend around May. The New York Post then reported that Menard had called herself a “committed vegan” in a since-deleted biography for an Austin grocery co-op where she served on the board.

Paxton seized on the issue. He called his opponent “Tofu Talarico” and attacked his masculinity, and Trump said “you can’t get elected as a vegan in Texas,” according to People. Talarico has denied ever being vegan. “James is not and never has been a vegan, much to his girlfriend’s chagrin. As the saying goes, true love conquers all,” a campaign spokesperson told the Post.

Talarico has said Menard didn’t “want any part of” the campaign fight but is “very supportive.” “What I’m trying to do is protect her and my family and my friends from the impacts of this race, because I signed up to run for the U.S. Senate. Obviously, they did not,” he said on the podcast.

What about James Talarico’s family?

According to his campaign website, as cited by USA TODAY, Talarico was born in 1989 in Round Rock, Texas, to a single mother. After his father became abusive, his mother moved them into a hotel and later an apartment, and she raised him in East Austin.

His adoptive father, Mark Talarico, met his mother shortly after she left his birth father, and they married within a year, according to a Texas Monthly profile cited by USA TODAY. “I would not be a state legislator or a pastor or anything like that if I had not met Mark Talarico,” Talarico has said.

Who is James Talarico?

Talarico, 37, is a former middle school teacher and seminarian. He was elected to the Texas House in 2018 and beat Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic Senate primary in March, People reported. He is the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate seat in Texas since 1988, according to People.

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Earlier coverage: Texas Senate Race: James Talarico vs. Ken Paxton on Election Day, When Polls Close and What to Watch (Nov 3)