{"id":397260,"date":"2026-08-04T09:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T09:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/397260\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T09:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T09:32:10","slug":"most-black-texas-voters-back-talarico-over-paxton-poll-finds-despite-senate-primary-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/397260\/","title":{"rendered":"Most Black Texas voters back Talarico over Paxton, poll finds, despite Senate primary tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fewer than one in 10 Black voters in Texas say they are less likely to vote in November\u2019s midterm elections due to U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett<\/a>\u2019s defeat in the Democratic primary, according to a poll released Tuesday that suggests James Talarico<\/a> could face limited electoral fallout from the racial tensions<\/a> that have persisted since he secured the U.S. Senate nomination.<\/p>\n

The survey<\/a> of 500 Black Texans who voted in recent elections, fielded by Texas Southern University, provides a temperature check of the crucial voter bloc as Talarico continues efforts to coalesce Black Democrats behind his candidacy.<\/p>\n

While numerous Black political leaders have backed Talarico, some elected officials and activists have said he, and the Democratic Party as a whole, have to do more to mobilize voters and listen to their worries. Those calls have fallen largely on Talarico, however, after he defeated Crockett, one of the state\u2019s most prominent Black politicians, in a contentious primary that was fraught with racial issues and saw Black voters overwhelmingly back Crockett.<\/p>\n

The poll found that Crockett\u2019s defeat left just 7% of Black Texans less likely to show up in November, while an accompanying TSU survey<\/a> found that 79% of likely Black voters intend to vote for Talarico, compared to 12% who supported Republican U.S. Senate nominee Ken Paxton<\/a>, the attorney general.<\/p>\n

The findings suggest that many Black voters appear to be sticking with Talarico even as an overwhelming majority \u2014 77% of recent Black voters \u2014 said they believe the Democratic Party in Texas takes Black voters \u201cfor granted.\u201d Eight in 10 also said they believed Crockett\u2019s race influenced the decision by non-Black primary voters to support Talarico. <\/p>\n

Pollsters at TSU\u2019s Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center conducted both surveys starting July 27. The poll that surveyed a representative sample of the likely statewide electorate was in the field through Thursday and had a +\/- 2.8% margin of error, while the one that focused on recent Black voters was conducted through Sunday and had a 4.4% margin of error. Respondents to the latter poll had voted in at least one election since the November 2022 midterms. <\/p>\n

In the poll of statewide voters across all demographics, Talarico received 47% to Paxton\u2019s 45%, continuing a stretch of surveys showing the Democrat with narrow leads within the margin of error. Republicans led by single digits in all other statewide races in the survey, with GOP Railroad Commissioner nominee Bo French leading by the narrowest margin at 3 points.<\/p>\n

Crockett endorsed Talarico the day after losing the March 3 primary, which came after some polls showed Talarico winning less than 10% of Black voters who were likely to vote in the contest. She has since cast doubt on whether Black voters have unified behind the statewide ticket, skipped the Democrats\u2019 state convention and said she is focusing her efforts on down-ballot races. Crockett\u2019s supporters, meanwhile, have urged Talarico to do more to rein in his supporters who have demanded that the Dallas congresswoman play a more active role in supporting her former rival \u2014 tension that has played out largely online.<\/p>\n

Talarico recently vowed<\/a> to invest $25 million in Black voter outreach, announcing the initiative during an event in Houston that was intended to serve as a forum to listen to Black voters\u2019 priorities, and that grew tense at times. At the Texas Democratic Party\u2019s convention in June, he told a room<\/a> packed for a Black Democratic Caucus meeting that the party had a \u201ctroubling history of taking Black voters for granted,\u201d which received emphatic applause. <\/p>\n

Among the critics of Talarico\u2019s outreach to Black Texans is state Rep. Jolanda Jones<\/a>, a Houston Democrat who has accused him of being \u201cunwilling\u201d to reach out to her directly and \u201chave a substantive conversation\u201d about earning the community\u2019s support. Last month, Talarico held a 75-minute Zoom call with Black elected officials, including Jones, according to state Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins<\/a>, D-San Antonio and chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus.<\/p>\n

TSUBlackTexasVotersAugust2026<\/a>Download<\/a><\/p>\n

TSUStatewideAugust2026<\/a>Download<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fewer than one in 10 Black voters in Texas say they are less likely to vote in November\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[288,2135,39926,1967,287,27,29,293,28,6473],"class_list":["post-397260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-elections","tag-james-talarico","tag-jasmine-felicia-crockett","tag-ken-paxton","tag-politics","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-legislature","tag-texas-news","tag-well-a-homepage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}