James Talarico, 37, may have finally taken his first step on the road to financial independence. The Democratic candidate appears to have drawn down the checking account he shares with his mommy, Tamara Talarico, according to his latest financial disclosure.
Talarico, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, previously valued the Wells Fargo account—his only checking account, described as “jointly held by the filer and the filer’s mother”—at between $15,001 and $50,000. His most recent disclosure, filed in August, puts its value between $1,000 and $15,000.
Candidates are only required to report assets within broad value ranges, so it’s impossible to know the extent of the drawdown. The account’s value could have declined as much as $48,999 over a roughly eight-month period, or as little as $1. It’s possible that Talarico has no plans to set out on his own financially just yet, but we’re certainly rooting for him.
The Democrat’s mother and adoptive father, retired engineer Mark Talarico, have donated thousands of dollars to his political campaigns over the years. As a candidate for state representative in 2021, Talarico reported an in-kind contribution from his parents for “moving expenses” valued at $1,438. He was 32 years old at the time. The following year, Talarico purchased a $400,000 house in Austin, though it’s not clear whether his parents helped pay for it.
Talarico’s latest financial disclosure reports $84,831 in earned income between his government salary and his side gig as an “equitable education” consultant crafting DEI programs for Texas public schools. It also lists a company, Nine Banded LLC, that Talarico registered in September 2025, one week after launching his Senate campaign. The purpose of the LLC—identified as “inactive” and having “no value”—is not entirely clear, but there is reason to believe Talarico intends to use it to avoid paying his fair share of taxes.
The LLC’s filing lists Talarico as the managing member. Its registered agent is Eric Pierre, a high-profile accountant whose Austin office is listed as the LLC’s primary address. The Washington Free Beacon reported last week that Pierre is best known for helping “high-net-worth individuals” utilize “advanced tax strategies” to “escape” hefty payments to the IRS.
Talarico is not particularly wealthy now, but he did sign a book deal with HarperCollins in March for an undisclosed amount. As of Aug. 13, he has yet to receive any income from the book, which does not have a title and has not been publicly announced.
The timing suggests Talarico may intend to use the LLC as a tax-advantaged vehicle for book-related income. If so, there are multiple ways he could significantly reduce his tax bill fair share compared with what he would owe the IRS the American people if he reported the book payments as individual income. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, has used a similar arrangement to reduce the taxes he owes on speaking and consulting income.
Pierre, the accountant, routinely brags about helping rich people avoid paying taxes. He wrote an entire book on the subject in 2024. The Great Tax Escape: Why Making More Money Doesn’t Mean You Have to Pay More in Taxes includes a section titled “The Guilt Trap,” in which Pierre rejects the view that “minimizing taxes is greedy or irresponsible” and calls it “potentially harmful … to society as a whole.”
On the campaign trail, at least, Talarico has championed higher taxes on “the wealthiest Americans.” It’s somewhat ironic, then, that he’s teamed up with an accountant who insists that wealthy Americans are “actually paying their fair share” and shouldn’t be shamed for using creative tax strategies to avoid paying more.
As far as we’re concerned, Talarico deserves credit for overcoming his professed aversion to “wealth hoarding” in his personal life. Maybe someday he can open his very own checking account and pay his own moving expenses.
Ideally, before his 40th birthday.
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