Democrats in Texas are finding out the hard way that their problems are not just with Republican opponents but with themselves.
Representative Jasmine Crockett, the outspoken progressive congresswoman from Dallas, has made sure of that by taking a few sharp swipes at her party’s newly anointed Senate candidate, James Talarico.
Her remarks have set off a political firestorm inside Texas Democratic circles, only months before the general election.
Talarico already faces an uphill climb. Democrats had convinced themselves that he would present a more electable image to Texas voters than Crockett, who is known more for theatrics than diplomacy.
Yet, as it turns out, his own record is now being combed through, exposing a pile of questionable statements that his campaign is trying frantically to “clarify.”
That rarely works.
A candidate who suddenly starts rewriting his own past usually looks untrustworthy, and voters sense that faster than any campaign manager does.
Adding insult to injury, Crockett has made clear she will not be falling in line to promote her former rival’s campaign.
She told the Dallas Morning News that she had no interest in supporting Talarico at the state convention or anywhere else.
According to her, Talarico called and left a voicemail asking her to give a keynote address at the upcoming Democratic Party convention.
Her response was icy. She did not even bother to listen to the message and brushed it off as an “afterthought invite.”
In other words, Crockett feels snubbed.
Democrats were hoping to show a united front, but instead, the bad blood between the two is festering in public view.
Her open irritation casts doubt on whether Talarico can rally his own party, let alone reach Texans who lean independent or conservative.
When pressed about the possibility of campaigning for him in the fall, Crockett was blunt.
“I have no idea. I am more focused on down ballot races in general,” she said, dismissing the idea as something not worth her energy.
It sounded less like political calculation and more like resentment.
Her comments did not stop there. Crockett hinted that Talarico may face deeper problems with a key Democratic base, black voters.
“I’ve not heard a bunch of kumbaya,” she said when asked about his support within the black community. Translation: enthusiasm is low, and she knows it.
She added that “people don’t seem to be convinced at this point,” though she left herself a small escape hatch by noting that “there’s a lot of time between now and November.”
In Texas politics, every vote matters, and Democrats cannot afford to lose a fraction of their reliable turnout among black voters.
If Talarico cannot mend fences with Crockett or her supporters, he risks further alienation from the very base his party depends on.
The fact that Crockett herself has taken her grievances public tells voters that there is real division gnawing at the Democratic Party in the state.
While Crockett made sure to stress that she will never vote for a Republican and has no love for Attorney General Ken Paxton, her bitterness was unmistakable.
She even mocked the notion that she owed Talarico any support, asking why no one was demanding that Janet Mills campaign for Graham Platner after losing to him in Maine.
The message could not be clearer: if she is being asked to bend the knee, she will not.
Crockett added, “I will say it for the record, I am not currently running for US Senate, and therefore you will not see me on the trail as if I am running for US Senate. I will be helping down ballot candidates. But you all are still focused on me.”
That comment sounded less like political strategy and more like a public scolding to her own party and the press.
And then she hammered the point home by adding, “There is one person that is guaranteed not to become the next senator in the state of Texas, and that’s Jasmine Felicia Crockett.”
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Her irritation may have been directed at reporters, but it is Talarico who will pay the price.
Texas Democrats are trying to avoid another electoral collapse similar to past cycles, yet here they are letting their internal squabbles dominate headlines.
Instead of rallying around their nominee, they are watching a meltdown in slow motion, thanks to Crockett’s loud refusal to play along.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Texas are more than happy to watch the implosion from the sidelines.
Ken Paxton, who weathered every attack the left could throw at him, now faces a divided Democratic challenge that appears ready to eat itself alive.
Talarico needs unity and enthusiasm, but what he has is a feud that refuses to cool down.
And with Crockett’s star power among progressives, her withholding of support could bleed energy away from Talarico’s already rocky campaign.
If this kind of infighting continues, Democrats may be looking at another painful election night.
Texas remains a red state, but Democrats like to imagine that one day it will flip.
The problem is, when even their own candidates cannot stand each other, that dream looks more like a fantasy.
For now, Jasmine Crockett seems content to let her party’s presumptive nominee twist in the Texas heat.
