This is our chance to send the signal that this is not who we are
I don’t want to get to this year’s election knowing that I could have said something and I didn’t.
I don’t want to wake up on November 4 and see that Texas let a billionaire buy a Senate seat.
And I don’t know if I’ll convince anyone, but I’m saying it anyway. So here it is: who I’m voting for, and why I think this election matters even more than most. (My picks for my whole Austin ballot, with a short why for each race, are here.)
It’s hard wanting your country to succeed, but wanting the people leading it to fail.
I want the best for our country and for everyone in it. But I find so many of the people in charge right now morally repulsive and completely antithetical to the character and the American story I was raised on. You don’t have to be a political scholar to look at how we’ve gone from Obama to Trump #2 and think maybe something is seriously, deeply wrong with our country.
I know plenty of good people who voted for Trump, some of them for the same reason I’m voting this year: they wanted a government that works for regular people instead of insiders. I’m writing this for them, too.
I believe the reason we’ve gotten here is that those in charge now are willing to win no matter the cost. Anyone corrupt, self-dealing, and morally bankrupt who got rewarded with billions of dollars would probably keep doing the same shitty shit, too. We as a country, like it or not, have sent the signal that there’s no moral boundary to winning and no moral boundary to power. They just keep getting more money and more power. And the only way to show that doesn’t work is for them to lose.
That’s why this election feels so consequential to me. Not just as policy. As a signal.
When I was a kid, politics was mostly quiet background noise. The news was on at dinner, and it just wasn’t a big deal. Clinton–Lewinsky feels hilariously tame now. So does the week everyone lost their minds over Obama’s tan suit. Even Bush and Iraq came with some decorum, and some checks and balances.1
The background noise has turned into a blaring speaker. Politics occupies more brain space for most of us than it ever has—and probably ever should. And our system is simply failing us, left and right.
Take the war in Iran. On February 28, the U.S. and Israel started bombing Iran. There was no declaration of war. The president didn’t even ask Congress for an authorization. Bush at least got a vote on Iraq.2
Eight months in, we’re still in it, and it’s an even more poorly thought-out war than Iraq, if that’s possible.
And Congress has mostly failed to do anything about it. The House has voted three times to end the war, most recently with seven Republicans joining in. The Senate has killed every attempt with teeth, the last one by a single vote.3 The checks and balances are still technically there, but most of the people in power have just completely forfeited them. We can’t even get a straight answer on how many Americans have died,4 let alone how many Iranian civilians. One human rights group counted more than 1,700 by April. That’s insane. That should not be the case, not in our country.
People will vote for change every single time unless they’re given a vision they can believe in, or proof that the people in charge are delivering. Unfortunately, in 2024, a plurality of voters saw neither, so they voted against.
We should not understate the mistakes progressives and Democrats made from 2020 to 2024. But this year I really believe that there’s something to vote for. Two candidates, specifically, that I want to call out here.
James Talarico for U.S. Senate
I remember listening to his Joe Rogan episode—the only Joe Rogan episode I’ve ever listened to (lol)—and thinking: wow, this guy could actually win in Texas. My excitement 10x’d when I went to his first Austin event last September. It’s 100x’d over the last few weeks, as he’s taken a narrow lead in the polls and started to feel like he has a real shot. And I was more fired up than ever when I walked out of his last Austin fundraiser on October 23. He’s confident, his message is clear, and he knows exactly what he’ll do once he’s elected.
James is the real deal. He’s a former public-school teacher and a seminary student who talks about faith more fluently than most politicians I’ve heard. He speaks my language—and I think the language of so many Texans who usually vote Republican or sit on the sidelines. And he cares about fixing the system, not just claiming a seat of power for himself.
He’s running against Ken Paxton, the attorney general a Republican-led Texas House impeached in 2023, 121–23, before the Senate acquitted him, and against the money behind him (Elon Musk’s $158 million and counting). In Talarico’s words, on The Daily: “I really do believe that on November 3rd, our state is going to send the world’s first trillionaire a very clear message that Texas is not for sale.”
Gina Hinojosa for governor
For my family, her race might matter even more than Talarico’s.
I’m the parent of two young kids. I want every child in Texas to get a great education, and it feels like we’re moving backwards. Hinojosa is a former Austin ISD board president, and she opposes the private-school voucher program. This used to be a bipartisan position. Rural Republicans and Democrats blocked vouchers for years, and as recently as 2023, 21 House Republicans voted to strip them out.
She’s also promised to end the abortion ban: “When I’m Governor, women will no longer have to risk their lives just to start a family.” That one is especially personal. If we had a third child, it would be a high-risk pregnancy from day one because of our history. As things stand, if we were expecting again, we would likely leave the state for that pregnancy. We’re fortunate to even have that option. I never want to be in a position where my wife’s life is at risk because a doctor won’t act for fear of being punished by the state. You don’t have to be pro-choice to believe a doctor shouldn’t have to call a lawyer before saving a woman’s life. The whole thing is so fucked up.
My high school English teacher in Kentucky was the best, most memorable teacher of my entire education. He introduced me to real literature, to technology as I know it—he was the first person I knew to order an iPhone—and to politics. He was the first adult I remember talking to me about Barack Obama.
He was an incredible mentor—a plugged-in, open-minded, nerdy adult. He taught me that one person could make real change. And that that person could be someone like me. There are people like him in every town in this country, red and blue: hardworking, principled, and kind. It would break my heart if we keep empowering amoral, corrupt, juvenile billionaires at their expense.
I hope Americans can see this is our chance to do better—and we deserve better. This is our chance to send the signal that this is not who we are. If you usually vote Republican, or you’re not sure you’ll vote at all, I’m not asking you to switch teams. I’m asking you to vote for two people who’ll fight for you, not for whoever’s funding them.
And if it doesn’t go our way, Talarico has the right answer for that too. “Whether we’re successful or not, we are part of a relay race of Texans who have been fighting for the promise of this state.” I will be deeply, truly sad if I wake up to a loss on November 4, but I’m not about to stop fighting. I’ll only fight harder.
Please vote! Early voting started Monday, October 19, and runs through Friday, October 30, at any vote center in your county (Travis County’s are here). Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
My picks for my whole Austin ballot, with a short why for each race, are here: Austin ballot picks.
Vote the whole ballot. Bring someone with you. Grab a martini afterward. Watch the results. Teach your kids kindness, ambition, and that they can effect change in the world. Let’s go.
Footnotes
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I don’t want to understate Iraq. It was a big deal. Bush made plenty of mistakes, but I don’t necessarily think he’s a bad person. ↩︎
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The Iraq authorization passed 296–133 in the House and 77–23 in the Senate in 2002. ↩︎
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The House first voted to end the war in June. The Senate’s most recent binding attempt failed 49–50 on September 24. ↩︎
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In September, the Washington Post reported that more troops had died than the Pentagon was admitting. Hegseth called it “a complete LIE.” A few weeks later, the Pentagon quietly raised its own count to 21. ↩︎