Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett lost the Democratic Senate primary to James Talarico in March and endorsed him afterward. Five months later, she is keeping her distance.
CNN’s Laura Coates asked Crockett Thursday night whether she would campaign with Talarico against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. Crockett wouldn’t say yes.
“I will be campaigning down ballot,” Crockett said.
Coates immediately followed up: “Why?” Crockett’s reasoning went beyond any primary grudge. She argued that the entire model of Democratic statewide campaigning in Texas is broken, pointing to Beto O’Rourke’s failed 2018 Senate campaign against Ted Cruz as proof that even the best candidate, with all the money and energy in the world, isn’t enough.
“We’ve tried this, where we’ve got one amazing candidate that’s running at the top of the ticket,” Crockett said. “Beto is a very good example of this, raising all the money, doing all the things, running around the entire state. But it’s not enough.”
Crockett said she instead wants to use her time to raise the profiles of candidates who could otherwise be overshadowed by the Senate race. When Coates asked whether campaigning for Talarico and helping down-ballot Democrats really had to be an “either-or” proposition, Crockett said that for her, “it probably is.” She pointed to demands from her FIRE leadership PAC and said she is being pulled across the state.
Then Crockett got to another problem for Talarico: black voters.
Coates asked whether Crockett was hearing much excitement from black voters in Texas. Her answer was no.
“I don’t think that there is excitement,” she said. “Black voters are practical.”
Crockett said they may still vote for Talarico. But she also noted that excitement is what gets people to stand in long lines or show up in bad weather on Election Day.
Crockett has been signaling doubts about Talarico for some time. Asked previously whether she believed he could actually win, her answer was blunt: “I don’t know. I watch money.”
“When I look at the money, if Republicans start spending money in Texas, then I’ll be convinced,” she said. She noted that neither the NRSC nor the DSCC were investing in the race at the time. A signal, she argued, that internal polling on both sides tells the same story.
She is not alone in raising questions about Talarico’s standing with black Democrats. Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones, a Houston-area Democrat, has accused his campaign of failing to sufficiently engage black elected officials and political organizations.
“Talarico and everybody statewide in the Democratic Party has a black problem, whether they acknowledge it or not,” Jones said. “And inspiration is not going to get us to the polls.”
Talarico still has Paxton waiting for him in November. Crockett gave him the endorsement after the primary. So far, that looks like about as far as she plans to go.
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