Jasmine Crockett remains skeptical Talarico can win Texas US Senate seat

The Texas congresswoman said she’s unconvinced by early polling and is watching campaign spending for signs the Senate race is truly competitive.

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) expressed skepticism that her former rival, James Talarico, can win the closely watched U.S. Senate race in Texas

When asked about Talarico’s chances, Crockett, who was defeated by Talarico in the March Democratic primary, told NBC News, “I don’t know.”

The outspoken congresswoman said she isn’t so certain about several polls showing Talarico leading Republican nominee Ken Paxton in Texas, where a Democrat hasn’t won a U.S. Senate seat since 1988.

“I watch money,” said Crockett. “When I look at the money, if Republicans start spending money in Texas, then I’ll be convinced. But right now, national Republicans decided they wanted to dump money into North Carolina, as well as Georgia. That’s where they’re fighting, and national Democrats have not decided to dump money into Texas either.”

Referring to the political parties’ campaign fundraising arms, Crockett explained, “I look at where does the NRSC (National Republican Senatorial Committee) stand? Where does DSCC (Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee) stand? Right now, neither one are investing, which tells me that their internals are saying the same thing.”

In her opinion, the Texas race “looks like status quo,” adding, “I won’t get on the ground to really start to feel it until maybe end of September, October, as I start to dig into which races I’m going to help out in, the races that I really feel like we can win.”

Since losing the Democratic nomination to Talarico, whom she urged her supporters to back shortly after conceding, Crockett has declined to campaign outright for Talarico. She has instead focused her attention on Democrats in down-ballot races for the U.S. House of Representatives and the state legislature.

During a recent interview with theGrio, Talarico praised Crockett for her efforts to boost Democrats down the ballot in Texas.

“She is now helping down-ballot candidates all over the state, which is critical if we’re gonna build the movement we need at a deep level in communities across Texas. She is doing the work [and] she has done more than enough to help us,” said the 37-year-old Texas state representative. “Winning this campaign is my job as the Democratic nominee, and we’re grateful for the Congresswoman’s support.”

When questioned if he asked Crockett to campaign directly with him before Election Day, Talarico told theGrio, “I would be honored to have the Congresswoman on the campaign trail. She’s one of the most talented campaigners in the country.” He added, “I know she’s focused on down-ballot candidates, but she has an open invitation to join me anytime on the campaign trail.”

Given Crockett’s commanding lead over Talarico among Black voters in the March primary, strong backing from the U.S. congresswoman could help boost Talarico’s support.

However, it appears Talarico’s outreach to Black Texans is already paying off. A New York Times/Sienna Poll of likely Black voters in Texas found that 80% said they would vote for him if the election were held today. That percentage of support is slightly higher than the number of Black voters who said they would vote for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa (78%) and who recalled voting for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election (78%).

The Democrat told theGrio that he will keep traveling across the state to speak directly with Black Texans.

“We’re going to keep talking about the issues that are facing Black communities across the state; the attack on voting rights, this maternal mortality crisis, which is three times deadlier for Black women. We’re gonna be talking about the funding gap with HBCUs and bringing the funding for our historically Black colleges and universities up to parity,” said Talarico. “We’re going to keep talking about housing affordability and universal health care and ensuring that we can all get by in this economy. And we’re gonna do that with and for Black Texans all over this state.”