Rep. Jasmine Crockett has confirmed she is still deciding whether to declare her candidacy for a competitive Texas Senate primary — and does not plan to make the final call until just hours before the deadline is set to expire.
In an exclusive interview with CNN published Sunday, Crockett detailed the lengths of her indecision. She said she has two checks made out: one for a House reelection campaign and the other to join the Senate primary.
The Texas congresswoman is expected to make a decision sometime Monday, just hours before she is slated to attend an announcement event. The deadline to submit the check for either race also expires Monday evening, just 90 minutes after the start of her event.
“I just thank God to be in a privileged position to the extent that I have choices,” Crockett told CNN.
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The 44-year-old two-term lawmaker has made a name for herself on Capitol Hill for her viral spats with Republican counterparts Marjorie Taylor Greene and Nancy Mace, among others.
In response to opposition research claiming that Crockett may struggle to appeal broadly to Texans in a statewide race, the congresswoman argued her profile on the Hill is what will turn out Black and Latino voters.
“I’m not crazy,” Crockett said to CNN. “It’s weird that people believe that I could win the races that I won and I’m just like out here willy-nilly. But OK. I am very self-aware, right?”
“We also had to test for the fact that I not only have high name ID, but the reason that my name ID is high, right? Calling Marjorie ‘Bleach Blonde’ may work nationally,” she continued. “Who knows how that plays in Texas, right?”
Other Democrats in the Texas Senate race set for November 2026 include former Rep. Colin Allred and state Rep. James Talarico.
Several sources told CNN that Crockett has spent the last week making phone calls to allies, including Allred, whom she asked to drop out of the race and run for governor instead. She also reportedly spoke to Rep. Marc Veasey, whose seat is in jeopardy following the state’s recent gerrymandering effort, asking him to file candidacy for her seat once she submits her Senate paperwork. Crockett also connected with Stacey Abrams, a two-time failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate, about how to expand the electorate, according to CNN.
An October poll conducted by the University of Houston and Texas Southern University put Crockett at the lead of a hypothetical four-way primary between her, Allred, Talarico and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who was considering a run but has since passed.
Republicans face a packed primary as well, with Rep. Wesley Hunt and state Attorney General Ken Paxton set to go up against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.
“I agree that we don’t need a messy primary,” Crockett told CNN. “If it’s three people, I think that we probably all would agree with that sentiment … It would be because different people in their minds have different ways about how and why they would be successful.”
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