Democrats Crockett and Talarico showed varied styles during Senate primary debate in GOP-heavy Texas
Democrats hoping to win a U.S. Senate race in Republican-heavy Texas showed their different styles and surfaced some policy differences in a primary campaign debate Saturday.
The debate between U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico was their first faceoff. It was held as part of the Texas AFL-CIO's political convention before an audience of hundreds of union members and their families. The primary is March 3.
Crockett and Talarico are running for the seat held by four-term Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who faces two primary challengers. Democrats see Texas as potentially competitive in the November general election in their effort to reclaim the Senate majority, even though the state has not elected a Democrat to statewide office in more than 30 years.
Crockett is one of her party's most outspoken House members. The 44-year-old Dallas civil rights lawyer and former public defender, who is in her second term, has built her national profile with a candid style marked by viral moments, including testy exchanges with House Republicans.
Introducing herself on Saturday, she said she has been a fighter from her time as a public defender to her service in Congress.
“While the system has been fighting me, I have been fighting them back,” she said.
Talarico is a soft-spoken former teacher with a rising national profile. The 36-year-old, who represents suburban Austin, has had his own social media moments, notably in the form of talks on what he argues are the dangers of Christian nationalism.
He talked often Saturday about his time in the classroom and unifying voters, at times referencing theology.
“The real fight in this country is not left versus right. It’s top versus bottom,” he said. “We will not win this race in November with the same old politics of division. Leaders want us looking left and right and not at each other.”
Democrats need to gain a net of four seats in the midterm elections to retake the Senate majority. That is a tall order, given that most of the Senate races this year are in states that President Donald Trump carried in 2024.
Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt are challenging Cornyn in the Republican primary. Some party strategists have worried that legal, ethical and personal questions about Paxton would require the GOP to spend many millions of dollars more to defend with advertising, as Republicans also work to hold competitive seats in states such as North Carolina and Maine and try to pick up seats in Georgia and Michigan.
Paxton was acquitted of corruption charges in a 2023 impeachment trial and reached a deal to end a long-running federal securities fraud case in 2024. Paxton's wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce last year on the grounds that her husband had committed adultery.
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