Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico voted against a 2023 Texas law prohibiting certain gender-transition treatments for minors, including surgeries, puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, according to official Texas House records.
Talarico was one of 56 House members who voted against Senate Bill 14 on final passage May 15, 2023. The bill passed 87-56 and was later signed by Gov. Greg Abbott.
SB 14 prohibits physicians from providing specified treatments to minors for gender transition, including certain surgeries and medications. The law also prohibits public money from being used to provide treatments barred under the legislation.
Talarico defended his opposition later that year, saying decisions involving transgender youth should be left to parents and doctors rather than politicians.
His position on surgery has since changed or been clarified. Talarico now says he opposes gender-reassignment surgery for minors and would support a national prohibition. He maintains that he opposed SB 14 because it went beyond surgery and also restricted other treatments.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken the opposite position and repeatedly defended and enforced SB 14.
“Texas passed a law to protect children from these dangerous unscientific medical interventions that have irreversible and damaging effects,” Paxton said in 2024 while announcing a lawsuit against a physician accused of violating the law.
A Closer Look at Talarico’s Legislative Voting Record
Beyond his vote against legislation restricting gender-transition procedures for minors, state Rep. James Talarico opposed several other high-profile Texas bills involving school athletics, border security, immigration enforcement, school choice and abortion medication.
Despite Talarico’s opposition, all but one of the measures listed below ultimately became law.
The following is a review of selected high-profile legislation, what each bill proposed, Talarico’s recorded votes, and the final legislative outcomes.
| Bill and Date | What the Bill Did | Talarico’s Vote | Outcome |
| HB 25 — Transgender school sports Oct. 14, 2021 | Required public-school athletes to compete according to sex designated at birth, subject to statutory provisions. | NO | Passed House 76–54; became law |
| HB 7 — State border security May 10, 2023 | Proposed expanded border enforcement, including a state border protection unit. | NO | Passed House 88–56; did not become law |
| SB 4 (88-3)— Human-smuggling penalties Oct. 26, 2023 | Increased criminal penalties for certain human-smuggling offenses and migrant stash-house operations. | NO | Passed House 92–54; became law |
| SB 4 (88-4)— State immigration enforcement Nov. 14, 2023 | Created state criminal offenses involving unlawful entry and reentry. | NO | Passed House 83–61; became law |
| SB 8 (89R) — Immigration enforcement cooperation June 1, 2025 | Required specified county sheriffs to enter agreements with federal immigration authorities. | NO | Conference report adopted 89–52; became law |
| HB 7 — Abortion medication restrictions Aug. 28, 2025 | Restricted the manufacture and distribution of certain abortion-inducing drugs and established civil enforcement mechanisms. | NO | Passed House 82–48, become law |
| SB 8 (89-2) — Public-building restroom restrictions Aug. 28, 2025 | Restricted access to certain public-building restrooms and changing facilities based on sex. | NO | Passed House; became law |
| Sources | Texas Legislature Online I Vote Smart | — | Official legislative records |
Paxton reiterated his position this year, saying, “The law is clear that these radical procedures are illegal and in no world should Texans’ tax dollars be used to permanently harm children.”
The 2023 vote has become an issue in the U.S. Senate campaign. However, the legislative record does not show Talarico casting a vote specifically to fund transgender surgeries for minors. Rather, he voted against legislation that prohibited those surgeries, other gender-transition treatments and the use of public money for treatments prohibited by the law.
Talarico and Paxton are opposing candidates for U.S. Senate in the November election.
