U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett speaks at a Feb. 19 Fort Worth campaign event during early voting for the U.S. Senate Democratic primary.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett made her case for why she’s the candidate who should take on the Republican nominee for Senate in November and defended her electability during a visit Thursday, Feb. 19, in Fort Worth.
Crockett’s March 3 Democratic primary opponents include state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat who represents the Austin area. The winner of the race is likely face incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton or U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt in the midterm election later this year.
With early voting underway, Crockett told an enthusiastic Fort Worth crowd that she’s their best pick for the statewide office.
“I connect with working class folks,” Crockett said. “I connect with people that are not OK with politics as usual. That is my strength as a candidate, and so to me, leaning in and grabbing up those folks and getting them involved, that is where the wind comes from.”
The event at The Potter’s House of Fort Worth church was formatted as an interview rather than a traditional stump speech, with community activist Sara Fairley Luna moderating the conversation.
Several area Democratic candidates were at the event, as well as elected officials like state Rep. Nicole Collier, a Fort Worth Democrat, and Fort Worth City Council members Chris Nettles and Deborah Peoples. Before it began, a long line stretched along the front of the building as attendees passed through security before taking their seats in an auditorium.
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Early voting started Tuesday and runs through Feb. 27. In the first two days, more Democratic primary voters cast votes than Republicans — a stat that was lauded during Crockett’s campaign stop.
The county’s Democrats are fresh off a victory in a North Texas Senate district that has long been red.
“I think this is going to be Tarrant County’s actual year that they flip,” Cockett said to applause.
She later told reporters that her campaign is feeling optimistic about her performance in Tarrant County, but said it’s unclear who specifically is turning out and what it means for her odds.
“I’m just excited to see that Tarrant County is outvoting the Republicans,” she said, noting that the turnout bodes well for November.
Much of the Democratic primary has focused on stylistic differences between Crockett and Talarico. During the Thursday event supporters who took the stage to introduce Crockett lauded her reputation as a fighter in Washington.
Crockett’s primary foe wasn’t a focus of her conversation Thursday, as the representative instead looked ahead to November, highlighting her experience in Congress. Since being elected in 2022, the former state representative has been seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party.
Crockett said it’s usually her clashes that are front and center, but that she has also worked across the aisle and has policy plans.
“It never goes viral when I work with somebody, but the reality is that in order to govern, you have to work with people,” Crockett said, noting that Cornyn has been dinged on the campaign trail for collaborating with her.
The Democratic candidate outlined factors that she believes give her an edge over Paxton or Cornyn in a general election.
“If it’s Ken Paxton, I get to be the most experienced attorney on the stage,” Crockett said. “Because he’s also an attorney. I’m an attorney, but I’m the only one that actually has federal legislation, so people don’t have to guess at what I’m going to do.”
As for Cornyn: “I’ll be able to call him out as soon as he tries to try to play funny business with his record, because I am up there in DC working every single day, and I know what he is and isn’t doing,” Crockett said.
A poll from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston put Crockett 8 points ahead of Talarico, with 47% of votes.
The poll found that Cornyn, Hunt and Paxton all have a lead over Crockett and Talarico in a hypothetical November matchup, but that their leads are within the poll’s margin of error. Crockett could fare slightly better than Talarico in a matchup against Hunt, but Talarico has a bit of an edge against Cornyn, according to the poll. The Democratic candidates fared equally in a theoretical matchup against Paxton.
Crockett pushed back against the idea that she’s not electable in Texas during the conversation and in an interview with reporters.
Addressing the Crowd, Crockett pointed out that former Texas Gov. Ann Richard was a Democrat elected to serve statewide in the 1990s. A Democrat hasn’t won statewide in Texas since 1994.
“It is interesting, if you know your history, there also was this, she’s not electable thing,” Crockett said. “Yeah — it tends to be said about women.”
Crockett said she’d be OK with electability arguments based on her credentials, but isn’t seeing that. She highlighted experience working on the federal level, as a small business owner and work on agriculture issues and knowledge of trade in Texas.
“Give me something of substance other than she’s a woman, or she’s Black, because that is how it’s reading,” Crockett said.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Eleanor (Elly) Dearman is a Texas politics and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She’s based in Austin, covering the Legislature and its impact on North Texas. She grew up in Denton and has been a reporter for more than six years.
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