Jasmine Crockett chose the final possible moment to jump into Texas’ U.S. Senate race and she did it with a warning aimed squarely at the White House. Launching her campaign on Monday, the Democratic congresswoman made clear she intends to run an aggressive, national-facing campaign, declaring to President Donald Trump, “I’m coming for you.”
Crockett’s entry instantly elevated what Democrats already see as a difficult but consequential contest. Republicans control the seat, held by Sen. John Cornyn since 2002, and Texas remains a Republican stronghold. Still, party strategists view the race as part of their broader long-shot effort to chip away at the GOP’s Senate majority in next year’s midterms.
Known for her confrontational style and viral moments on Capitol Hill, Crockett enters the race as one of the party’s most visible messengers. She filed on the last day of Texas’ qualifying period, setting up a high-profile challenge in a state President Trump carried last year. Cornyn, meanwhile, faces a bruising Republican primary against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.
Speaking to supporters in Dallas, Crockett leaned into her reputation as a political target. “As a candidate who is constantly attacked and seen as a threat, it’s because I am,” she said. “I’m the only one who has gone toe to toe with Donald Trump, and there’s a reason he’s always got my name in his mouth.”
Democrats need to net four Senate seats nationwide to regain control, a tall order given that many of the contests are in states Trump won comfortably. Texas has been a particular source of Democratic ambition for decades, though statewide victories have remained elusive. Cornyn’s primary fight could complicate the landscape, especially with Paxton, a favorite of Trump’s base, drawing intense grassroots support despite years of legal and personal controversies.
Crockett’s announcement followed closely behind another major shift in the field. Former Rep. Colin Allred stepped aside from the Senate race earlier Monday, ending his Democratic bid and pivoting toward a House comeback campaign, AP reported. That cleared some space for Crockett but left a contested primary that includes Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.
Talarico, a former public school teacher, has built a fast-growing national profile through social media videos attacking Republican priorities such as private school vouchers and efforts to require the Ten Commandments in classrooms. He enters the March 3 primary with significant momentum. Campaign finance filings show Talarico raised nearly $6.3 million in just three weeks after organizing his campaign committee in September and had nearly $5 million cash on hand. Crockett, meanwhile, brought in about $2.7 million for her House campaign from July through September and closed that period with $4.6 million available.
“It’s going to be a sprint from now until the primary, but in Texas you have to think about the voter base overall in November, too,” said Democratic consultant Kamau Marshall, who previously worked for Allred. “Who can do the work on the ground? After the primary, who can win in the general?”
For Democrats, Crockett represents a test case. Her blunt style and eagerness to confront Republicans head-on could energize primary voters but also risk alienating swing voters in a general election. The party has not won a statewide race in Texas since 1994.
Republicans wasted little time using Crockett’s political persona against her. Paxton dismissed her as “Crazy Crockett,” while Cornyn welcomed the matchup.
“I think that would be a lot of fun,” Cornyn said at the U.S. Capitol. “She just says such inflammatory and crazy things.”
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Talarico struck a more measured tone in response to Crockett’s entry. He welcomed her into the race but pointed to his campaign’s infrastructure and grassroots support.
“Our movement is rooted in unity over division,” he said in a statement, adding that his campaign has 10,000 volunteers.
Democrats privately acknowledge their clearest general election opening may come if Paxton emerges as the Republican nominee, given the baggage that has followed him through much of his career. Even so, his popularity with Trump loyalists makes him a formidable contender.
Hunt, a two-term congressman from the Houston area, also defied GOP leadership expectations by joining the Republican primary.
Crockett urged her supporters to ignore critics who argue she cannot win statewide because she is Black, a woman or a Democrat in Texas. Ahead of her 43-minute speech, her campaign played a video montage of Trump criticizing her, including comments mocking her as a symbol of the Democratic Party’s future. Trump has called her a “low IQ person,” a label Crockett previously responded to by saying she would take an IQ test against him.
Throughout the event, she addressed Trump directly.
“You better get to work because I’m coming for you,” Crockett said. “I’m not going away. I’m not giving up.”
A civil rights attorney and former public defender, Crockett was once the youngest Black Democratic county chair in Texas. She served in the Texas House before winning her first term in Congress in 2000 and has since built a national following through sharp exchanges and high-profile clashes.
She has sparred publicly with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, moments that have helped fuel her rise on cable news and social media. She also drew backlash after referring to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as “Gov. Hot Wheels,” later explaining she was criticizing his policy of transporting immigrants to Democratic-led cities using “planes, trains and automobiles.”
Democrats’ strongest statewide showing in recent decades came in 2018, when Beto O’Rourke narrowly lost to Sen. Ted Cruz during Trump’s first midterm. Party leaders believe a similar environment could emerge next year.
Allred, a former NFL player and civil rights attorney, was one of the party’s top recruits in that cycle. He later lost to Cruz by 8.5 points in last year’s Senate race and is now running for the House in a Dallas-Fort Worth district reshaped by Republicans to favor their party.
Explaining his decision to exit the Senate race, Allred warned that an internal Democratic fight could weaken the party’s focus. Such a contest, he said, “would prevent the Democratic Party from going into this critical election unified against the danger posed to our communities and our Constitution by Donald Trump and one of his Republican bootlickers.”
Marshall said Crockett’s high visibility gives her a clear edge in the primary, though turning national attention into a statewide win will be far more complex. A successful Democratic nominee, he noted, would need to mobilize Black voters in major cities, reclaim diverse suburbs and exurbs, and remain competitive in rural regions, particularly among Latino voters in the Rio Grande Valley.
“It’s about building complicated coalitions in a big state,” Marshall said.
