Texas state Rep James Talarico emerged victorious on Tuesday in his tense primary battle against firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett for the US Senate — giving Democrats a boost in their quest to flip the state red.
Talarico, 36, had 53.2 percent of the vote, compared to 45.5 for Crockett, 44, in the Democratic primary. The Associated Press called the race for Talarico at 2:37 a.m. EST.
Republicans were openly hoping for Crockett to win, viewing her as the less electable challenger in November, whereas Talarico has more crossover appeal to independents.
“We’re cheering for Jasmine Crockett,” Fox News host Sean Hannity said on air earlier Tuesday night while reading ongoing Texas results.
Crockett, who launched her campaign focused squarely on taking on President Trump, suggested Tuesday night that some dirty election tricks were at play in the results. Voter confusion in Dallas County had initially led a judge to extend voting for two more hours.
“We encourage each and every one of you to remain resilient. We cannot allow this type of behavior to be rewarded,” Crockett told supporters earlier Tuesday night in praising the voting extension. “Because so long as they know that they can win — even if it means cheating — then they will continue to do it.”
It’s not immediately clear who Talarcio will challenge in the general election, as the Republican primary is widely expected to head into a primary run-off election between Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton that will be decided in May.
Despite Texas being a Republican stronghold state, Democrats had been optimistic that they could make the Senate race competitive, due to tight polling matchups with the GOP candidates. During the last blue wave midterm cycle in 2018, Democrats only lost the Senate race that year by about 2.5 percentage points.
Additionally, many Democratic operatives believe that Paxton’s (R) history of scandals would give them plenty of fodder if he manages to lock down the nod over Cornyn.
The Texas Senate primaries were the most expensive race in US history, according to AdImpact, a digital media tracking firm, with more than $110 million spent on ads for the Democratic and Republican candidates.
Talarico had more than $17.6 million spent on his behalf for ads, while Crockett only saw $4.3 million shelled out.
Over recent weeks, however, those aspirations were overshadowed by what, at times, became a nasty primary battle between Talarico and Crockett.
Both come from a religious background, with Crockett being the daughter of a pastor and Talarico being a Presbyterian seminarian. The two have used that background to hit back against the rise of Christian nationalism.
But when it comes to style and tactics, the two could not have been further apart.
Crockett built a national name for herself by being something of a political flamethrower, getting into viral clashes with MAGA firebrands such as former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), whom she famously said has a “bleach-blonde, bad-built, butch-body.”
Despite her antics resembling those of a lefty populist, Crockett’s vote record was in the ideological middle of the pack for House Democrats. She’s also staunchly defended former President Joe Biden’s fitness for office and taken digs at lefties like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Crockett had jumped into the race just before the filing deadline after Texas Republicans moved to redraw her Dallas-based seat. Not long after her entrance into the race, former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) dropped out. He later endorsed Crockett, claiming that Talarico racially slighted him.
Allred cited a TikTok influencer who claimed Talarico referred to him as a “mediocre black man,” something Talarico has denied.
Crockett’s unencumbered, brash knuckled persona frequently landed her in hot water. Last year, for example, she bashed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) as “Gov. Hot Wheels,” poking fun at his wheelchair, to which he has been confined since the 1980s after an oak tree fell on him during a run.
“We got Governor Hot Wheels down there. Come on now. And the only thing hot about him is that he is a hot ass mess, honey,” she blurted out during a dinner in Los Angeles last year.
Even her private behavior rankled many staffers, who accused her of cultivating a toxic work environment, describing her as “rude” and disengaged from the work of her office, as The Post previously reported.
By contrast, Talarico gained national attention for his smooth oratory skills and went viral for his interview last year with Joe Rogan that impressed the podcast titan. Some observers have drawn comparisons between his silver tongue and that of Pete Buttigieg or Barack Obama.
He got a fundraising and publicity boost last month when the CBS “Late Show” nixed airing his interview with host Stephen Colbert, citing government-required equal time concerns for candidates.
Unlike Crockett, Talarico refrained from hurling rhetorical firebombs at his rivals, keeping his criticism of her to a minimum and training much of his fire on Trump and Republicans.
At the same time, Talarico has made overtures to disaffected Republicans and moderate voters.
“If you voted for Donald Trump but you are fed up with the extremism and the corruption in this government, you also have a place in this campaign,” Talarico told voters while stumping in San Antonio on Sunday.
Talarico was the frontrunner heading into Election Day with a 10-percentage point lead over Crockett, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate.
Cornyn (R-Texas) warned that Talarico is politically “dangerous” for the GOP, given his potential appeal to moderates, but other Republicans were dismissive of him.
“Lollipop neck is not going to play well in Texas,” Republican congressional hopeful Brandon Herrera chided.
