James Talarico Topples Jasmine Crockett in Texas Dem Senate Primary
Texas state Rep. James Talarico scored a victory over Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, overturning weeks of polling that had given the Dallas congresswoman a significant advantage in the race to determine the party’s 2026 nominee for the seat currently held by Republican Sen. John Cornyn.
Recent vote before the March 3 primary, Crockett was in the lead. A University of Texas at Tyler poll conducted Feb. 13-22 surveyed 1,117 registered voters and 959 likely voters and found Crockett with 55 percent support, compared to Talarico’s 37 percent, outside the poll’s 3.2-point margin of error. A separate University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll led From February 2 to 14, among the 369 likely Democratic primary voters, Crockett led, 56 percent to 44 percent.
The primary too drawn participation of former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris recorded robocalls supporting Crockett, telling voters that Texas had the chance to “send a fighter like Jasmine Crockett” to the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, Obama previously called Talarico a “really talented young man” during a podcast interview in October, a clip later promoted by Talarico’s campaign.
Crockett too received the support of artists during the campaign. Rapper Cardi B posted a video on Instagram urging Texas voters to support Crockett, saying, “If you want someone to fight for your community, if you want someone who will go up there and represent you and your issues, please vote for my sister, Jasmine Crockett.” » Singer Kelly Rowland also appeared alongside Crockett in a message encouraging participation in the primary, telling voters: “You need to get out and vote. You know what to do.”
Former Congressman Colin Allred, who released Senate race in December and later filed for Texas’ newly redrawn 33rd Congressional District, Crockett also endorsed. In a video message, Allred criticized Talarico for comments he considered racist, saying Talarico “had the temerity and audacity to tell a black woman that he had signed up to run against a mediocre black man.” Allred urged Democratic voters to support Crockett, adding, “Go vote for Jasmine Crockett. This man should not be our candidate for U.S. Senate.”
Allred then joined Crockett in Dallas on election night to address concerns about voting access during the primary. The two announced a news conference regarding what they described as voter suppression at Dallas County polling places after the shift to precinct voting. During the event, Crockett exhorted Voters continued to participate despite reported problems at polling stations, telling their supporters: “We encourage each of you to remain resilient. We cannot allow this type of behavior to be rewarded, because as long as they know they can win, even if it means cheating, they will continue to do it.” She went on to advise voters to wait in line and ensure they reach the correct polling location.
During the campaign, Crockett expressed confidence in statewide competition. In a February 16 CNN interview The leadershe claimed that “independents and Republicans prefer me” in Talarico, citing a recent poll, and said “the numbers don’t suggest” that she couldn’t win statewide.
On his campaign website, Talarico argues that the country’s greatest divide is not “left versus right” but “top versus bottom.” Its “corruption and democracy” page said that “billionaires and their giant corporations are pouring millions of dollars into campaign contributions and corporate PACs to elect politicians who will do their bidding,” adding that he has “never taken a dime of corporate PAC money,” and promising that the first legislation he would introduce in the U.S. Senate would be an anti-corruption package to “ban super PACs and corporate PACs,” “ban partisan gerrymandering,” and “increase transparency and accountability in all branches of government.”
Talarico too main lines educational priorities on his campaign website, where he notes that before running for office, he “taught 6th grade languages on the Westside of San Antonio – one of the poorest zip codes in Texas.” One of the central points of the page is its opposition to school voucher programs. The website says his colleagues chose him “to lead the fight against Governor Abbott’s private school voucher scam — a program that takes taxpayer dollars out of our public schools to subsidize private education, even for billionaires like Elon Musk,” adding that he has “taken on billionaires like Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks and Betsy DeVos.” The page also points out that during his tenure in the Texas Legislature, he “led the fight against private school vouchers that defund Texas’ public neighborhood schools.”
On the “Liberty, Family and Faith” page of his campaign website, Talarico describe himself as “a Presbyterian seminarian studying to become a minister” and writes that his “faith in Jesus leads me to reject Christian nationalism and commit myself to the project of democracy”. The page also lists policy priorities, including “restoring reproductive freedom with federal legislation to codify Roe v. Wade” and “defend the separation of church and state and continue to denounce those who distort the meaning of faith to harm our neighbors.”
Once the Democratic primary is decided, Talarico advances to the November 2026 general election. Republicans, meanwhile, are headed to a May runoff after no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote. The top two finishers — incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — will face off to determine the GOP nominee.
Follow Live coverage of the first election day of the 2026 midterms here, as races unfold in Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas.
