Texas State Rep. James Talarico has won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Texas, defeating Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) and ending the outspoken congresswoman’s time in Washington when her current term expires.
With 86 percent of the vote counted, Talarico secured 53.1 percent of the vote compared to Crockett’s 45.6 percent, according to the Associated Press.
The victory sets up a general election matchup later this year, though Talarico’s Republican opponent has not yet been determined. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are heading into a runoff election scheduled for late May after neither candidate captured a majority in the GOP primary.
Because the Republican race remains unsettled, Talarico now gains a potential advantage by beginning his general election campaign months earlier.
The two Democratic candidates ran sharply different campaigns during the primary.
Crockett, who chose not to run for reelection to her safe House seat in order to pursue the Senate race, leaned heavily on a national political message centered on opposition to President Donald Trump. Her campaign largely avoided traditional advertising for much of the race before eventually releasing a unique anime-style advertisement that featured artificial intelligence-generated crowds.
Talarico took the opposite approach. The former middle school teacher, who is currently working toward a divinity degree, flooded the airwaves with advertisements in both English and Spanish throughout the campaign.
One of his more unusual campaign moves included spending $10,000 to air an advertisement during the Super Bowl. In total, Talarico’s campaign spent more than $8.6 million on ads, while a supportive political action committee, Lone Star Rising, contributed an additional $4.1 million in advertising support.
Polling throughout the race suggested Talarico might be a stronger candidate in the general election. Surveys showed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton trailing Talarico in a hypothetical matchup, while Crockett was polling behind both Paxton and Cornyn.
Despite the loss, Crockett has pledged to support Democratic efforts to flip Texas in November and help candidates across the ballot.
Talarico’s campaign gained significant momentum in the final weeks before the primary. Following an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Feb. 17, his campaign reportedly raised $2.5 million.
The race also included several moments of controversy.
Ahead of election day, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott publicly criticized Talarico following comments the Democrat made about a terror-linked shooting outside a bar in Austin. Abbott responded on X, writing, “You and your immigration policies would make America less safe,” a post that drew roughly 1.6 million views.
Dangerous people should not be allowed into the country.
Dangerous people should not be allowed to get guns.
Texans understand this — you apparently don’t. https://t.co/axkGhpC6bi
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) March 1, 2026
Crockett has also been involved in several high-profile controversies during her time in Congress. In March 2025, she referred to Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, as “Governor Hot Wheels.” Crockett later said the remark was referencing trains used by the Texas government to transport illegal immigrants.
Later that year, she drew national attention after referring to Trump as “Temu Hitler,” referencing the Chinese e-commerce platform.
Questions about Crockett’s past also resurfaced during the campaign. In December 2025, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported that Crockett had rented a car in 2006 alongside a man previously convicted of robbery. After that individual crashed the vehicle, Crockett was sued and forced to defend herself in court while early in her legal career.
With the Democratic primary now settled, attention in Texas shifts to the Republican runoff between Cornyn and Paxton, which will determine who faces Talarico in what could become one of the most closely watched Senate races of the 2026 midterm elections.
