There’s a showdown in Texas on Tuesday to choose the Democrat who will run for the U.S. Senate from that state. Texas voters choosing to participate in the Democratic primary have a choice between the dynamic firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett and the soft-spoken but eloquent state Rep. James Talarico to take on not only whoever the Republican nominee is, but also try to put an end to a 30-year streak of Democrats losing statewide elections in Texas.
In Talarico and Crockett, we see avatars of the two main strategies Democratic campaigns have employed over the last 20 years.
Though you may not know it, given the online chatter and commentary from national pundits with no on-the-ground knowledge of Texas, Democratic primary voters there are actually very excited about their choices. Crockett’s favorables are slightly higher than Talarico’s, but both are well liked. In Talarico and Crockett, we see avatars of the two main strategies Democratic campaigns have employed over the last 20 years. Should the party seek the median voter, hold the base and flip Republicans? That’s what Talarico claims he can do. Or should the party focus on firing up the base and converting non-voters into voters, which is Crockett’s strategy?
No matter which of them wins Tuesday, when the campaign music stops, that winner will immediately have to set about mending fences and building bridges after a campaign that went from “Bless your Heart” to “Don’t Mess with Texas” faster than Ted Cruz books a flight at the sign of snow.
Democrats weren’t thinking a lot about Texas in the 2026 midterms until Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s aggressive, unprecedented and anti-democratic redistricting scheme effectively redistricted many House Democrats out of power. That not only led to a scrum for other Congressional seats but also changed who would run for Senate.
While there is some question about who was “supposed” to run, the state lawmaker Talarico, who had been building a following with his Christian progressive speeches across the state, first announced that he was running for U.S. Senate in September. Crockett, the two-term House representative, jumped in the race in December. Unlike Talarico, who was relatively unknown outside of his district, she entered with a national reputation for sparring with Trump and Republicans and a long record of constituent service in her district.
Talarico almost always says the right thing in public, but organizers and activists I have spoken to have taken offense to Talarico’s messaging that he is more electable than Crockett, and see that as a dog whistle that Crockett is too Black, too loud and — being a woman on top of that — can’t win. There’s frustration throughout the Democratic Party that the party wants Black people’s campaign labor and Black people’s votes but consider Black candidates too risky for high profile swing races.
There’s frustration throughout the Democratic Party that the party wants Black people’s campaign labor and Black people’s votes but consider Black candidates too risky.
(When asked if all the talk about “electability” had been a dog whistle in their race, Talarico told Politico, “I guess it can be. I believe Black women are electable.” But he said his concern was Crockett’s belief that she doesn’t have to win over any of Trump’s voters.)
Compounding Talarico’s problem with Black voters is the allegation that he referred to former Rep. Colin Allred (who’s running again for the House) as a “mediocre Black man” in an off the record conversation. In a statement Talarico admitted to using the words “mediocre,” but he said he was calling Allred’s campaign mediocre, not Allred himself.
“I described Congressman Allred’s method of campaigning as mediocre – but his life and service are not,” Talarico said in a statement. “I would never attack him on the basis of race.” The larger issue is that after Talarico and Allred spoke privately about the statement, the usually mild-mannered Allred not only blasted Talarico but endorsed Crockett. If he couldn’t make peace with another candidate in private, then it’s unclear if his team will be able to make amends in time for an election with a slew of staff and organizers, not only in Allred’s staff but across Texas who were offended by the alleged comment. Crockett has some of her own fence mending to do should she become the nominee Tuesday but not so much locally. Elaine Godfrey, a reporter from The Atlantic, who profiled Crockett for that magazine in July 2025, claims she was removed from a Crockett campaign rally during the last week of early voting. When the Crockett campaign denied it, Godfrey produced audio that seemed to confirm that Crockett’s staff had asked her to leave. Though Crockett’s campaign denied that Godfrey had been told to leave, Crockett claimed Godfrey had been sued for defamation (which came across as a justification of her being asked to leave.) To state the obvious, a reporter can be sued for defamation without ever having defamed anyone; but Anna Bross, senior vice president of communications at The Atlantic, said on X, that Godfrey has never been sued for defamation. If she wins Tuesday, she’ll also have to work to let journalists know she won’t lash out or block them if they write something she doesn’t like. What Crockett did and said about Godfrey will likely have an effect on how other journalists cover her going forward. So, if she wins Tuesday, she’ll not only need to soothe the anxieties of Talarico’s supporters, but she’ll also have to work to let journalists know that she won’t lash out or block them if they write something she doesn’t like. Either way it goes, Texas Democrats will be the winners Tuesday. They have the rare opportunity to choose from two great candidates. But if the United States and democracy are going to win — that is, if the Republican stranglehold over Congress is to be broken — then whoever wins the primary needs to start by making friends with the organizers,asmin institutions and individuals that they’ve run up against all the way.
Jason Johnson
Dr. Jason Johnson is a professor of Politics and Journalism at Morgan State University and an MSNOW contributor and host. He specializes in pop culture and campaign communication, is the author of Political Consultants & Campaigns: One Day to Sell and is a long suffering Seattle Seahawks fan. 
