Despite close polling, only one will lead the Democratic ticket in November’s general election. Both candidates are making stops across Texas to connect with voters on issues they say matter most to young people and working families. Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico visited El Paso to engage borderland voters ahead of the March 3 election,
Crockett’s focus is on economy, immigration and education
Congresswoman Crockett has served as the U.S. representative for Texas’ 30th Congressional District for three years. In early 2025, she was appointed ranking member of a subcommittee on the House Judiciary Committee.
Crockett earned a Bachelor of Arts in business administration from Rhodes College and a juris doctor from the University of Houston Law. She began her career as a public defender before practicing personal injury law and previously represented Texas’ 100th District in the Texas House from 2021 to 2023.
Crockett pointed to tariffs and federal investment decisions as key factions when addressing inflation and rising costs.
“The first step would be rolling back the tariffs so that hopefully our country can get back on track,” Crockett said.
She argued that reduced federal investments in science and STEM program have also hurt students and recent graduates.
“The investments that we historically were making related to science and STEM in general, pulling back those dollars was a mistake,” Crockett said. “We need to put them back in.”
Crockett added that she has worked on legislation aimed at easing financial pressure for college graduates.
“I’ve worked on some bills that are all about making sure we can defer [student] loans for a certain amount of time,” Crockett said. “So, hopefully we give them [college students] a few extra dollars in their pocket, so they can participate in the marketplace and start to actually buy homes.”
Immigration was another central topic during her remarks. Crockett emphasized that Democrats support border security while also advocating for efficiency and accountability within the immigration system. “I want to be clear that Democrats also care about border security,” Crockett said.
Once a civil rights attorney, a public defender, and currently congresswomen, Jasmine Crockett is now one of the Democratic Candidates running for Texas Senate.
She said the federal government should provide more resources to caseworkers and immigration judges so they can speed up processing these cases.
“If someone does not have a real case but is using our systems and our inefficiencies against us, then we can go ahead and get them out, because they potentially present a danger,” Crockett said. “It is important that we understand the root causes of migration and that we are doing it in an orderly fashion, so that then the cartels and gangs do not take advantage of the fact that we’re being overrun.”
Crockett also raised concerns about immigration enforcement practices, arguing that agencies must be held accountable.
“I’m actually currently working on finalizing a bill would require federal officers to cooperate with local law enforcement if they want to run parallel investigations,” Crockett said, referencing proposed legislation following the death of Renee Good.
“What’s happening right now is not immigration enforcement,” Crockett said. “We have got to clean house and actually get back to doing the work the agency’s actual commitment was, to enforce deportation orders, not go around terrorizing communities.”
Crockett connected immigration enforcement fears and supply shortages to rising housingcosts.
“The tariffs have detrimentally impacted us because that increased the cost of lumber,” Crockett said.
She added that labor shortages and fear among workers have slowed housing production.
“When you start to slow down the production of homes, time is money,” Crockett said. “That ends up driving up the cost.”
She also cited a nationwide transformer shortage as another factor affecting housing development, saying she has introduced a bill to increase supply.
Talarico stresses education and economic fairness
James Talarico has served in the Texas House since 2018 and is former public-school teacher and presbyterian seminary from Austin. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in government from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Education in education policy from Harvard University. He previously led the Central Texas branch of Reasoning Minds, a nonprofit organization.
In the Legislature, Talarico serves as vice chair of the House Committee on Trade, Workforce and Economic Development and vice chair of the Subcommittee on Academic and Career-Oriented Education within the Public Education Committee. He also sits on the Public Education and House Administration committees.
A former public-school teacher said many young Texans feel forced to leave their hometown to succeed.
“We have a lot of smart, talented young people who grew up here in El Paso, or in Laredo or the Rio Grande Valley who feel like they have to leave these communities in order to succeed,” Talarico said.
He argued that stronger local economies and expanded higher education funding would allow students to remain in their communities.
“They should be able to stay here and succeed,” Talarico said. “That’s going to require more investments in higher education; it’s going to require more economic development and making sure there are opportunities at home for those kids.”
After visiting the East Montana Detention Center in El Paso, James Talerico made his way to the Fire Fighters Hall, where El Pasoans gather to hear him speak.
Talarico also spoke about the broader challenges facing Generation Z.
“That generation [Gen Z] has been through a lot with the pandemic, the political division in this country, gun violence and climate change,” Talarico said. “All they have to do is come together and take power back so they can make this broken system in their own image.”
He said economic inequality is a driving force behind many of the issues facing working families.
“I am trying to love my neighbor through public policy by lowering the cost of housing, lowering the cost of childcare, lowering the cost of prescription drugs including insulin,” Talarico said. “They [billionaires] want to divide us by party, race, gender, religion so we don’t notice that they are picking our pockets.”
He called for federal oversight of large corporations, including data centers and companies, to pay for their own energy and water usage.
On immigration, Talarico said federal leadership must change course. He called for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and criticized current enforcement practices.
“They say it’s law and order, but they’re waiting outside courthouses arresting people who are following the law and showing up for their immigration hearings” Talarico said.
Talarico said funding currently given to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should instead support local communities. At the same time, he said individuals who commit violent crimes should be deported.
“We can welcome immigrants who want to come here and contribute to our economy and contribute to our communities who want to make us richer and stronger as immigrants have always done, and we can keep out folks who mean to do us harm,” Talarico said. “If anyone commits a violent crime in this country, they should be deported immediately.”
Looking ahead to November
Primary elections determine which candidate will appear on the general election ballot, meaning turnout in March could shape the statewide race. Both Crockett and Talarico continue campaigning in communities across Texas as early voting continues. The winner of the Democratic primary will face the Republican nominee in November.
Candidates of the republican primary race, including Senator John Cornyn, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Congressman Wesley Hunt were contacted by The Prospector to conduct an interview but did not respond.
Vanessa Orozco is a contributor writer at The Prospector and may be reached at [email protected]