Texas Rep. James Talarico is projected to be the Democratic nominee for Senate after defeating U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett in Tuesday’s Texas Democratic primary.
Talarico stopped just short of declaring victory at his campaign headquarters early Wednesday morning with votes still being counted. The Associated Press called the race for Talarico a short time after he spoke.
“Tonight our campaign is shocking the nation,” he told a crowd of supporters. “We are still waiting for an official call, but we are confident in this movement we built together. Every vote must be counted, every voice must be heard.”
“This is proof that there is something happening in Texas,” he added. “Tonight, the people of our state gave this country a little bit of hope. And a little bit of hope is a dangerous thing.”
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Democrats nationally hope Talarico’s win provides a model for winning both Texas’ Democratic voters and undecided independents in the high-stakes general election in November. And his success and growing personal brand could have implications for other Democratic races around the country as the party seeks to retake their majority in both chambers of Congress.
Crockett conceded the race in a statement Wednesday morning congratulating Talarico.
“This morning I called James and congratulated him on becoming the Senate nominee,” she said. “Texas is primed to turn blue and we must remain united because this is bigger than any one person.” She added that she’s “committed to doing my part and will continue working to elect democrats up and down the ballot.”
A seminarian and former educator, the 36-year-old Talarico has run his campaign on a message of healing the divide he sees in American politics. He rose to prominence when he and a group of Democratic state legislators left the state last August to break quorum and prevent a vote on a new congressional map.
Since announcing his candidacy in September, Talarico has made waves for discussing his Christian faith as a foundation for his policy stances and approach to campaigning. Talarico’s been omnipresent across traditional and new media since his launch — he picked up even more attention when CBS refused to air his interview with late-night TV host Stephen Colbert last month.
It remains unclear who Talarico will face in November’s general election as he attempts to turn a Texas Senate seat Democratic for the first time in 30 years. Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn will head to a runoff election on May 26 against Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Both Talarico and Crockett said before the primary that they would back the other in the general election, citing the need to “turn Texas blue.”
The election night turned more complicated in Dallas County, the state’s second-most populous, as a precinct reshuffle meant thousands of voters were turned away at the polls. A judge ordered sites to stay open early in the evening, but the Texas Supreme Court overturned that order, requiring any ballots cast after 7 p.m. in Dallas County to be separated from the rest while a legal battle ensues.
Crockett, delivering a speech at her rally around 9 p.m. local time, said she would wait for Dallas County’s results before conceding the race.
“So that’s my news, is that we’re not going to have election results tonight, in my opinion, based upon what specifically is taking place in Dallas County,” she told a crowd of supporters. “Unfortunately, this is what Republicans like to do. So they specifically targeted Dallas County, and I think we all know why.”
The primary got thorny when Crockett launched her campaign in December. Talarico had until then been facing former Rep. Colin Allred, considered the frontrunner at the time, who had failed to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz in 2024. Allred dropped his bid as Crockett launched hers.
Crockett, who’d been endorsed by former Vice President Kamala Harris late in the race, had initially been favored to win. But her campaign was also backed by controversial funders including conservative donors, prompting some national progressive organizations to support Talarico. The final few weeks of the campaign sparked a national conversation about electability and candidate diversity in a party still smarting from its 2024 losses and hoping to soar back to power in eight months.
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