Jasmine Crockett says Black voters in Texas simply are not excited about James Talarico.
The outgoing Democratic congresswoman made the comments during an appearance on the “Front Page” podcast, targeting the man who beat her in the primary. Talarico won that race by six points, pulling 52.4% of the vote to Crockett’s 46.2%. Crockett’s own congressional district had been eliminated through redistricting, leaving her to challenge Talarico for the Senate nomination.
She lost. But she is not staying quiet.
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On the podcast, Crockett focused on what she described as negative treatment she and her supporters faced during the campaign. She made clear that race was central to her concerns, both about that experience and about Talarico’s standing with Black voters heading into November’s general election against Trump-backed Ken Paxton.
As originally reported, Crockett did win majority-Black areas during the primary, carrying urban centers around Houston, her home district, as well as the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Despite offering a tepid endorsement of Talarico for the general election, she made no secret of where she sees her energy going. “I personally don’t feel like the excitement necessarily exists within the Black community right now,” she said on the podcast. “Like, I don’t feel like they’re excited.”
Her plan, she explained, is to work around that problem by campaigning for Black candidates running in down-ballot races across some of Texas’s largest counties. The thinking is that generating enthusiasm at the local level could draw Black voters to the polls overall.
“I do have some amazing Black candidates that are running for office in some of the largest counties,” she said. “So if I can introduce Black folk to them, that may excite them and get them to the polls. So I’m working backwards.”
The comments drew fresh criticism from those who have long accused Crockett of viewing politics primarily through a racial lens. That criticism has followed her into other public settings as well.
During a recent congressional hearing, Crockett suggested that racism influenced which team fans supported in the World Cup final. The match featured Spain against Argentina. Crockett noted that Argentina’s squad included more players of color and argued that much of the global support for Spain was racially motivated.
“It seemed like the vast majority of the world was rooting against Argentina,” she told a witness at the hearing. “And why was that? Just give me an explanation if you could guess.”
The witness’s response was not reported. But the exchange drew significant attention on its own.
For Talarico, the situation heading into the general election against Paxton is complicated. He now faces a Senate race with his defeated primary opponent publicly questioning whether the Democratic base she represents is motivated to turn out for him.
