The Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas has been jolted by fresh controversy, one that has revived debates over race, power, and perceived political legitimacy in the Lone Star State and beyond.<\/p>\n
The flare-up began on Sunday. A TikToker posted a video<\/a> in which she says that Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who\u2019s also a former middle school teacher and a Presbyterian seminarian, remarked during a private conversation in January that he had \u201csigned up to run against a mediocre Black man, not a formidable, intelligent Black woman\u201d \u2014 references to former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Texas and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas.<\/p>\n Before he bowed out of the race in December, Allred had been locked in the closely watched contest against Talarico, who\u2019s white. Allred served as the U.S. representative for Texas\u2019s 32nd Congressional District \u2014 which covers parts of Dallas \u2014 from 2019 to 2025. He exited the race in December<\/a>, just before Crockett entered.<\/p>\n Whoever triumphs in the March 3 Democratic primary will face the winner of a Republican contest featuring U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. If Hunt or Crockett were to win in November, they would make history as Texas\u2019 first Black U.S. senator.<\/p>\n The controversy is intensifying fraught questions around Black candidates\u2019 supposed electability in a post-2024 national landscape, according to Ted Johnson, a senior adviser at the think tank New America.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Black candidates are [described as] \u2018smart\u2019 or \u2018articulate\u2019 or \u2018well-spoken,\u2019 those kinds of words suggest that there\u2019s a bar for Black excellence and that they [white politicians] get to set where that bar is,\u201d Johnson told Capital B. \u201cIt\u2019d be like saying, \u2018Well, Crockett would obviously be what W.E.B. Du Bois considered part of the talented tenth, while mediocre Allred wouldn\u2019t make the cut.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Sandhya Raghavan, a spokesperson for Allred, condemned the alleged remark in a statement shared with Capital B.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen a former NFL player, civil rights attorney, and former congressman can be dismissed as \u2018mediocre,\u2019 it reveals the impossible standards Black candidates are held to,\u201d she said. \u201cColin refused to accept that disrespect in silence \u2014 and in doing so, he stood up for every Black professional who has had their qualifications unfairly dismissed.\u201d<\/p>\n Talarico\u2019s team released a statement on Monday saying that the TikToker\u2019s claim is a \u201cmischaracterization of a private conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI described Congressman Allred\u2019s method of campaigning as mediocre \u2014 but his life and service are not,\u201d the statement read<\/a>. \u201cI would never attack him on the basis of race. As a Black man in America, Congressman Allred has had to work twice as hard to get where he is.\u201d<\/p>\n Capital B was directed to the statement when the campaign was asked for additional comment.<\/p>\n Read on to learn more about how the controversy is unfolding and what it could mean with the primary only weeks away.<\/p>\n What Allred is saying<\/p>\n Following the accusations, Allred threw his support behind Crockett, and addressed the allegation against Talarico in a video posted on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me just give you some free advice, James,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cIf you want to compliment Black women, just do it. Just do it. Don\u2019t do it while also tearing down a Black man.\u201d<\/p>\n Allred also used the video to encourage Black men.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me just say to all the young Black men out there \u2014 all the young men that come from tough backgrounds, struggled growing up \u2014 who maybe think that someday you want to put yourself forward as a leader in your community,\u201d he added. \u201cHaters like this are gonna show up, OK? And you\u2019re going to feel like you have to be twice as good, and jump twice as high, and talk twice as well. But you don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n Key members of the Congressional Black Caucus endorsed Allred\u2019s campaign last year. The backing was widely seen<\/a> as a crucial show of support in an increasingly competitive race. Those members included U.S. Reps. Yvette Clarke and Gregory Meeks of New York and Joe Neguse of Colorado.<\/p>\n What Crockett is saying<\/p>\n While Crockett thanked Allred for his endorsement, she lamented that the two were being confronted by this controversy at all.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that at the start of Black History Month, this is what we\u2019re facing,\u201d a spokesperson for Crockett said in a statement to ABC News<\/a>. \u201cIn former Congressman Colin Allred\u2019s video, he drew a line in the sand. He made it clear that he did not take allegations of an attack on him as simply another day in the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n A frequent and forceful critic of President Donald Trump, Crockett is no stranger to political flashpoints. She told CNN last year that she was \u201ctired of the white tears\u201d in the administration over diversity, equity, and inclusion measures.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look and you compare me to [former U.S. Rep.] Marjorie Taylor Greene [of Georgia] or me to [U.S. Rep.] Lauren Boebert [of Colorado], there is no comparison. And that is the life that we have always lived,\u201d she said<\/a>. \u201cThe only people that are crying are the mediocre white boys that have been beaten out by people that historically have had to work so much harder.\u201d<\/p>\n Crockett\u2019s team hasn\u2019t responded to Capital B\u2019s request for additional comment.<\/p>\n What the controversy says about electability<\/p>\n In an interview with CNN on Monday, Allred said that he viewed the controversy as extending far beyond his own experience, as he touched on how Black candidates are routinely critiqued in U.S. politics.<\/p>\n \u201cI responded not just on my behalf, but on behalf of Black candidates around the country \u2014 that even if you run 6 points ahead of your presidential candidate, you\u2019re still called \u2018mediocre,\u2019\u201d he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Allred was referring to his 2024 Senate campaign. Though he ultimately lost to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, he ran about 5 percentage points<\/a> ahead of former Vice President Kamala Harris statewide.<\/p>\n Scholars have long pointed out that Black candidates are often judged less by measurable performance than by more subjective and controversial notions of electability, a standard they say is both unevenly applied and hard to meet.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are many unfair expectations in American politics and in how we talk about Black people, particularly Black women,\u201d Keisha N. Blain, a professor of Africana studies and history at Brown University, told Capital B in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n She added that Harris, the Democratic nominee for president at the time, was \u201ctrying to navigate very delicate issues pertaining to race \u2014 but also gender.\u201d<\/p>\n Talarico\u2019s alleged comment could reshape a primary split along racial lines. Most Black voters are coalescing behind Crockett, and most white and Latino voters are backing Talarico, according to polling<\/a>.<\/p>\n Questions of electability also surfaced earlier this year. In January, the co-hosts of the podcast Las Culturistas discouraged their listeners from donating to Crockett\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s not going to win a Senate seat in Texas, you guys,\u201d co-host Matt Rogers said<\/a>. \u201cIf Beto O\u2019Rourke couldn\u2019t do it, Jasmine Crockett is not going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Co-host Bowen Yang signaled his agreement with Rogers.<\/p>\n They were quickly met with backlash, as some said that the remarks were, at best, dismissive and, at worst, racist. The co-hosts later apologized<\/a>. While some have criticized Crockett\u2019s bolder, more confrontational approach to politics, others have previously told Capital B<\/a> that they firmly embrace her style, seeing it as a sign that someone \u201cmeans business.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s unpopularity \u2014 underscored by the recent defeat<\/a> of a candidate he endorsed in a special election for a Texas Senate seat by a 14-point margin \u2014 has prompted Democrats to seriously vie for seats in traditionally red states.<\/p>\n \t