Jasmine Crockett Gets Good News as Early Voting Kicks Off in Texas, Likely Making Her the Favorite in Primary Race That Turned Ugly

Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is getting some good news as early voting in Texas kicks off ahead of the contested Democratic primary for this year’s U.S. Senate race, likely making her the favorite to win just one week before the election. While public polls show a statistically tied race, high turnout in certain areas could give her the necessary boost to emerge victorious in a primary that has grown increasingly ugly in recent weeks. Ms. Crockett announced last year that she would run for the United States Senate in 2026, though she waited until the last possible day to file paperwork for her candidacy. Her decision pushed a former lawmaker and the 2024 Senate nominee, Congressman Colin Allred, from the race, leaving her to run against state representative James Talarico. At the beginning, the race was tame, with both candidates keeping it civil at their one and only primary debate, where few policy differences were disclosed. The political discussion around the primary in the months since has focused less on substance and more on style, with Ms. Crockett pitching herself as the person best equipped to turn out the party’s base and the candidate most able to take on President Trump. Mr. Talarico — a deeply religious Christian and former teacher — argues that he can convince some of Mr. Trump’s own supporters to get out and vote for Democrats.The race suddenly became a racial conversation earlier this month when a TikTok influencer from the state claimed that Mr. Talarico said to her in an off-the-record conversation that Mr. Allred was a “mediocre Black man,” while Ms. Crockett was an impressive Black woman. Mr. Allred then recorded a video to endorse Ms. Crockett, telling Democrats that Mr. Talarico was offering nothing “unique” as a Christian candidate. Mr. Talarico denied that he ever described Mr. Allred as “mediocre” or that he mentioned his skin color during his conversation with the influencer. “In my praise of Congresswoman Crockett, I described Congressman Allred’s method of campaigning as mediocre — but his life and service are not,” Mr. Talarico said in a statement at the time. “I would never attack him on the basis of race.” The ugliness has captured national attention, but it appears that Ms. Crockett is maintaining the position she had when she first entered the race — as the frontrunner. In heavily African-American communities in the state, voters are turning out at significant levels. Early voting — which began last week — so far has surpassed 2022 early turnout at this same point, despite the fact there was no Senate race at the top of the ticket that year. Even more strikingly, more registered Democrats have turned out to vote than Republicans. On the GOP side, Republicans also have a contested Senate primary, with Senator John Cornyn facing a challenge from the state’s hardline conservative attorney general, Ken Paxton, as well as Congressman Wesley Hunt. Mr. Paxton is expected to win the GOP primary after a runoff election in May, according to polls. Turnout in this year’s primary early voting is even higher than it was at this point in 2020, when there was a contested presidential primary and a competitive Democratic Senate primary. Ms. Crockett’s home district, which covers a heavily African-American and Hispanic area in the southern parts of Dallas County and Tarrant County, is so far turning out more than other parts of the state, relative to their vote share in the 2020 primary. The Dallas and Tarrant share of the total primary early vote so far sits at just under 23 percent. Six years ago, those two counties made up only 18 percent of the Democratic primary, signaling that Ms. Crockett’s base is turning out. The race could still shift before election day next week. On Monday, a profile of Mr. Talarico in the New Yorker disclosed some of Ms. Crockett’s campaign machinations ahead of her own Senate run. Last summer, before he announced his campaign, Mr. Talarico told the outlet that he called Ms. Crockett to make sure that she was not going to run for the Senate seat. He says that had she told him at the time that she was thinking about running, he likely would have avoided the race altogether. In his interview with the New Yorker, Mr. Talarico said Ms. Crockett — shortly before announcing her Senate run at the last minute — called him to tell him that he should abandon his campaign and run for governor instead. Had he done so, he would have ended up running in the Democratic primary against a fellow Democratic state representative, Gina Hinojosa. “I told her that my friend Gina is already running for governor, and I would not do that to her at the last minute,” Mr. Talarico said of Ms. Crockett’s proposal. “That’s the standard I hold myself to.”

Jasmine Crockett Gets Good News as Early Voting Kicks Off in Texas, Likely Making Her the Favorite in Primary Race That Turned Ugly

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