Digital Media Center
Bryant-Denny Stadium, Gate 4
Box 870370
920 Paul Bryant Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0370
205-348-6644

© 2026 Alabama Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

How Texas' religious traditions helped shape Talarico's Senate victory

How did progressive Democrat James Talarico win the Texas Senate race? Historian Joseph Locke argues that the state’s conservative religious politics are a historical outlier.

Religion has long shaped Texas politics, from the populist movements of tenant farmers and sharecroppers to the civil rights movement and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society.

Here & Now‘s Robin Young speaks with Joseph Locke, a history professor at the University of North Texas and author of “One State Under God: A History of Religion in Texas,” about the state’s political and religious traditions.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR

News from Alabama Public Radio is a public service in association with the University of Alabama. We depend on your help to keep our programming on the air and online. Please consider supporting the news you rely on with a donation today. Every contribution, no matter the size, propels our vital coverage. Thank you.