SAN ANTONIO – Texas State Representative James Talarico’s interview on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” was the second time this month that a national TV appearance by him has generated significant buzz.
Colbert said attorneys for CBS informed him ahead of the Feb. 16 interview that it could not run on television, due to concerns it would run afoul of Federal Communications Commission’s rules on equal time.
The provision requires broadcasters to provide comparable airtime to all candidates in a specific election.
The 15-minute interview was instead posted to the show’s YouTube channel, where it garnered nearly 8 million views in its first few days online.
The incident came two weeks after an appearance by Talarico on ABC’s “The View.”
That interview triggered a formal FCC equal time investigation earlier this month.
The national media attention for Talarico, an Austin democrat who represents District 50 in the Texas House of Representatives, has added another layer of intrigue in the race to be the Democratic nominee in November’s general election.
Talarico’s opponents in the March 3 primary are U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who represents the Dallas area, and Ahmad Hassan, a Katy business owner who has run in numerous races at various levels of government for nearly two decades.
Talarico and Crockett appear to be the front-runners.
Talarico has previously said he entered the race to help unify a country that has become divided and intends to take on a “rigged system.”
Crockett, an attorney who is three years into her first term in the U.S. House of Representatives, previously served in the Texas House of Representatives.
Talarico has had an impressive run in raising money for his campaign, topping more than $20 million earlier this month.
That outpaces Crockett, even when accounting for funds she transferred from her House account last year.
If none of the three candidates receives a majority of the votes March 3, the top two finishers will move on to a runoff election May 26.
The winner of the Democratic primary will face the winner of a hotly contested Republican primary featuring incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, current Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.