A top Democratic strategist is warning that Texas Senate candidate James Talarico is failing to build support among Black voters.
Ashley Etienne, former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris, made the warning during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with host Kristen Welker. Her message was direct: without strong Black voter turnout, Democrats cannot win Texas.
“The only way you win the state of Texas as a Democrat is if you overperform with Black voters,” Etienne said.
She told Welker she had just returned from Houston, where she met with campaign operatives and state officials. What she heard alarmed her. Enthusiasm among Black voters was described as mild, and the $25 million Talarico pledged to spend more than a month ago had not yet materialized on the ground.
“The investments aren’t there yet,” she said.
As originally reported, Etienne also flagged a broader threat. Elon Musk has pledged to spend nearly $200 million on key races, with Texas among the top targets. She also pointed to a troubling data point for Democrats: 34 percent of Black men in Texas voted for Donald Trump. Waiting until Labor Day to begin outreach to Black voters, she warned, is a losing strategy.
Etienne is not alone in raising the alarm. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who lost to Talarico in the March 2026 Democratic primary, has expressed similar doubts. Crockett questioned whether Black voters would feel energized by Talarico’s campaign at all.
“I personally don’t feel like the excitement necessarily exists within the black community right now,” Crockett said on the “Front Page” podcast.
The numbers from the primary help explain why. In heavily Black precincts in Harris County, Crockett pulled 86 percent of the vote. In predominantly white precincts, Talarico led by a three-to-one margin. The divide tells a clear story about where Talarico’s base of support actually comes from.
Crockett did endorse Talarico after her primary loss, but in June she said she would not be campaigning for him. That absence could prove costly. Her strength with Black voters in Harris County suggests she carried real credibility with that community, credibility that has not transferred to Talarico.
Talarico has announced a $25 million get-out-the-vote effort targeting Black voters. But as Etienne noted, that money has yet to reach the ground.
Talarico will face Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the general election on November 3, 2026. If Democratic operatives and party figures are already sounding alarm bells this far out, the path to flipping Texas blue looks steeper than party optimists had hoped.