Far-left Rep. Jasmine Crockett officially launched her Texas senate campaign on Monday, filing her paperwork just hours before the deadline and announcing that she wants “a bigger voice.” The senate bid immediately reshaped the Democratic primary field and raised questions about her statewide viability in a state that has backed President Donald Trump three times.
Crockett told supporters, “There are a lot of people that [sic] said, ‘You gotta stay in the House, we need our voice, we need you there.’ And I understand. But what we need is for me to have a bigger voice.” She has teased a Senate run for months, saying she would jump in if she could “expand the electorate” in deep-red Texas.
Crockett enters the race with a long trail of controversies. She has attacked political opponents with inflammatory rhetoric, calling Texas governor Greg Abbott “Governor Hot Wheels” and criticizing Rep. Byron Donalds’s interracial marriage. She also claimed only “two Caucasians” voted against a resolution honoring Charlie Kirk after his murder. Her comments drew bipartisan backlash.
Last month, she faced an ethics complaint after reports revealed she concealed stock ownership in at least 25 companies, including marijuana firms that could benefit from legislation she cosponsored. Crockett also spread false claims that Republicans took money from “Jeffrey Epstein,” later insisting she “never said that it was that Jeffrey Epstein.”
Her entrance pushed another Democratic contender, Colin Allred, out of the race. Allred told CNN the move was “of course” tied to her decision and that “going through a bruising primary … was not in the best interest of the state or the party.” Crockett will now face state representative James Talarico in the primary.
Strategists from both parties doubt she can win statewide. One Republican consultant said she is “too extreme and too far-left for even Texas Democrats.”
