Texas state Rep. James Talarico drew attention in Brazil because his surname matches a slang term there for a man who gets involved with a friend’s partner. (Foto: Instagram)
James Talarico, a Texas state representative elected to the U.S. Senate, has gone viral in Brazil in part because of his surname. It drew attention there before: in 2020, he joined in a social media joke about the meaning Brazilians associate with “talarico.”
In Brazil, “talarico” is slang for a man who gets involved with a friend’s partner. Talarico addressed the term in a post on X, writing: “I’m going viral in Brazil right now. Apparently, ‘talarico’ is Brazilian slang for a wife-stealer. Hello, Brazil! I’m just making good public policy here in Texas — I promise I won’t steal your girl.”
The slang is also associated with a samba song by Zeca Pagodinho, “Talarico, Woman-Stealer,” about a man named Talarico who takes another man’s wife.
An Associated Press projection indicated that Talarico became the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Texas since 1988. Texas is traditionally a Republican stronghold. Talarico, who remains a state representative, had been considered an underdog within his own party and was little known in the state at the start of his campaign. He faced Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, an ally of Donald Trump who had been involved in several corruption scandals.
The midterm elections serve as an important gauge of the political climate for the White House. Voters choose all 435 members of the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats. At the time described in the report, Republicans, the party of Trump, controlled both chambers of Congress.
