Jim Hunt would like James Talarico winning the Democratic primary in Texas.

Like Talarico, the late Governor was a man of deep faith.

He was a churchgoer all his life. He and Carolyn Hunt were at Wilson’s First Presbyterian Church nearly every Sunday. They sang in the choir.

When the Governor started his Smart Start early childhood program, he talked about “what Jesus would want us to do for children.”

He told me that, as a young man, he realized that segregation and racial discrimination were contrary to everything he learned in Sunday school and church.

As for Talarico, author and interfaith leader Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons wrote at MSNOW that his “unapologetic embrace of his Christian faith sets him apart from other rising Democratic stars — and it could maybe even help reshape American politics….

“Talarico’s message is not about moderating progressive commitments to win over religious conservatives. It is about courage. It is about saying plainly that support for LGBTQ+ equality, reproductive freedom, public education and church-state separation can flow directly from Christian faith. He’s openly Christian and firmly pluralistic….

“Whether Talarico wins the general election or not, his campaign has already demonstrated that a different kind of religious politics is possible.”

Religion has long been a touchy topic for Democrats, going back to when John F. Kennedy had to defend his Catholic faith.

I remember when some Democrats across the country thought Jimmy Carter’s born-again Christianity was weird.

Talarico’s approach to faith is a welcome alternative to “Christian nationalism.”

Now, there’s an oxymoron if there ever was one.