A $25 million Black voter outreach initiative. An interview on \u201cThe Breakfast Club.\u201d Hosting a fundraiser at Texas Southern University, an HBCU in Houston.<\/p>\n
Texas state Rep. James Talarico is attempting to gain ground with Texas\u2019 2.7 million Black voters<\/a>, who are strongholds in cities like Houston and Dallas, as he seeks to become the first Democrat elected statewide in Texas in more than three decades.<\/p>\n But some strategists and local lawmakers think Talarico is falling short \u2014 criticism that has plagued him since the primary<\/a> \u2014 and that an enthusiasm gap from Black voters could make the difference on whether he is able to beat state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate, next week.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I\u2019m seeing with what is spent doesn\u2019t look or feel anything like $25 million at all. \u2026 He really does need to give more, he really does,\u201d said Democratic state Rep. Jolanda Jones, who serves in a predominantly Black district in Houston and endorsed Talarico.<\/p>\n Polling has found Talarico leading Paxton among Black voters<\/a> \u2014 but some Democrats are worried that not enough enthusiasm from Black voters will eat into any overall margin Talarico might have.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question is not whether Talarico gets the majority of the Black vote because Talarico is going to get the majority of Black votes,\u201d Jones said. \u201cThe question is how many Black people are going to show up to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n How enthusiastic Black voters are for Talarico won\u2019t be clear until after Election Day.<\/p>\n But some surrogates are already criticizing the state representative\u2019s investment in shoring up his support among Black voters as too late.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere he deserves credit is that he did with Latino voters what we\u2019ve been asking the Democratic Party to do with Black voters. He went in early, Day 1. He started engaging Latino voters. He built in infrastructure within his campaign run by Latinos to develop strategy to engage Latinos,\u201d Ashley Etienne, a former Democratic White House and congressional aide, told The Washington Sun.<\/p>\n But Etienne thinks that the campaign should be trying harder to make similar gains among Black Texans.<\/p>\n Traci Gibson, the first Black chair of the Harris County Democratic Party, said she has been visiting barber shops across the county to talk to Black men, most of whom she said did not recognize Talarico\u2019s name.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s done a few things, maybe once a month in Harris County,\u201d Gibson said. \u201cI would think that the largest county in Texas would get more touch points with Black voters, so I think there is room for additional pushes.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement, the Talarico campaign highlighted his Black voter outreach efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cTexas deserves a senator that will fight for Black Texans,\u201d said JT Ennis, a spokesperson for the Talarico campaign. \u201cIt\u2019s why James stands up to racist redistricting maps, champions HBCU funding, and supports programs that invest in Black owned businesses, increase access to capital, and provide home ownership grants to Black communities.\u201d<\/p>\n In response to Jones specifically, the Talarico campaign pointed The Sun to an interview she gave local media<\/a> earlier this month, in which she reiterated her endorsement for Talarico and said she was pleased with his announced investment. The Sun\u2019s interview with her took place several days later.<\/p>\n Perhaps the clearest sign that Talarico may be falling short with Black voters is the lack of a public campaign presence from U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a popular Black Democrat who lost the Senate primary to Talarico. Black voters overwhelmingly backed her in that contest, and she has since endorsed him.<\/p>\n But she has been noticeably absent from his events, which has led to criticism from some observers who believe she should join him in key neighborhoods on the trail.<\/p>\n CNN anchor Laura Coates pressed Crockett on her show in August about why she wouldn\u2019t campaign with Talarico \u2014 Crockett dodged the question repeatedly<\/a>.<\/p>\n Crockett has pushed back against criticism related to her absence on the campaign, arguing Talarico is focused on flipping Republicans angry over the economy rather than courting Black voters.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had two completely different philosophies,\u201d Crockett told The Sun, noting that other national Black surrogates like former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Rafael Warnock (D-Georgia) have yet to campaign with Talarico. \u201cHis philosophy wasn\u2019t, \u2018We\u2019ve got enough Democrats. We just got to turn out these disaffected kind of folks that nobody ever talks to.\u2019 His philosophy was: \u2018I\u2019m going to go get Republicans.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n