Who is Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett?
Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett may be making headlines for her interactions on the House floor, but her political career is just beginning.
Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett announced on Dec. 8 that she will run for the Texas Senate, according to her website, complicating matters for the party that hasn’t claimed a statewide victory in more than 35 years.
Dallas’ candidacy opens up a primary race against state Rep. James Talarico, who, like Crockett, is considered a rising star in the Democratic Party. A major fundraiser, Mr. Crockett gained national fame for his witty responses on cable news while firing back at Republican colleagues like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congressional hearings. The video on Crockett’s campaign website begins with President Donald Trump repeatedly insulting her.
Democrats are locked in an internal debate among Texas voters over the electability of Crockett and Talarico after U.S. Rep. Colin Allred withdrew from the race earlier in the day, choosing instead to run for a Dallas congressional seat. “Our movement is rooted in unity across divisions, so we welcome Rep. Crockett to this race,” Talarico said in a statement Monday.
The Texas Senate race is expected to be one of the most closely watched and complex in the country heading into next year’s midterm elections.
Crockett is a lawyer and Texas state lawmaker whose personal approach has garnered attention, but also earned him some flak.
The progressive congressman once referred to wheelchair-using Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as “Governor Hot Wheels,” and last month falsely claimed that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, former Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and an unspecified George Bush were among the Republicans who received campaign contributions from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
After Greene insulted Crockett’s fake eyelashes during a heated hearing last year, the Texas Democrat called the Georgia Republican “a bleached-blond bastard,” an exchange that delighted the Democratic base.
Mr. Talarico, a former schoolteacher, was the public face of the Texas Democratic Party’s highly publicized effort to flee the Lone Star State over the summer amid redistricting battles with Republicans. Mr. Talarico is studying to become a Presbyterian minister, and centrists often inject their beliefs into political debates that they believe can appeal to Texas independent voters and some Republicans.
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Meanwhile, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn faces his own primary race against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt, who ran without national Republican endorsement.
Mr. Paxton is a staunch ally of Mr. Trump, but his personal behavior has irritated Republicans in recent years. He is facing a highly publicized impeachment trial in 2023 and his divorce from his estranged wife, Texas Sen. Angela Paxton, after he was accused of infidelity. Hunt, one of the only Black Republicans in Congress, is a veteran who has served in the Houston suburbs since 2023.
Crockett is seen as the front-runner among Texas primary voters, according to a University of Houston-Texas Southern University poll released in October.
Texas Democrats have not won a statewide election since former Gov. Ann Richards won the gubernatorial race in 1990. Still, there are some bright spots.
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke defeated Republican Sen. Ted Cruz by less than 3 points in 2018, but Mr. Allred easily lost to Mr. Cruz in his re-election bid last year by a margin of nearly 8.5 percentage points. Cornyn defeated his last opponent, veteran MJ Hegar, by nearly 10 points during the 2020 race.
