Jasmine Crockett launches campaign for Texas Democratic Senate primary after Colin Allred drops out
Rep. Jasmine Crockett on Monday filed paperwork to run for Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Texas, a source tells CBS News Texas, hours ahead of a planned news conference where she is set to announce her plans.
The announcement is set to be held 90 minutes before the state's 6 p.m. CT deadline for candidates to file paperwork to run in the upcoming March 3 primary.
In the Democratic primary, Crockett will face state Rep. James Talarico of Austin, whose campaign has generated national headlines and who raised a record $6.2 million in the first three weeks of his campaign announcement.
After Crockett filed her paperwork, Talarico issued a statement saying, "We're building a movement in Texas — fueled by record-breaking grassroots fundraising and 10,000 volunteers who are putting in the work to defeat the billionaire mega-donors and puppet politicians who have taken over our state. Our movement is rooted in unity over division — so we welcome Congresswoman Crockett into this race."
Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt are also locked in a closely-watched battle for the GOP nomination. The final general election matchup is expected to be one of the most expensive races in the 2026 national cycle.
Paxton's campaign issued a statement Monday bashing the Dallas Democrat as "Crazy Crockett," but mostly alleging Cornyn has sunken tens of millions of dollars in the race even though "he's in third place in the primary."
Crockett's entry into the race comes after another Democratic Senate candidate, former Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas, dropped out of the race earlier Monday. Instead of filing his paperwork to run in the Senate race, he opted to file to run for the newly-drawn 33rd Congressional District in Dallas County.
The Supreme Court ruled last week that the newly-redrawn congressional map could be used in the 2026 election, which included redrawing three Dallas-area districts that are represented by Democrats.
In a statement earlier Monday, Allred said, "In the past few days, I've come to believe that a bruising Senate Democratic primary and runoff would prevent the Democratic Party from going into this critical election unified against the danger posed to our communities and our Constitution by Donald Trump and one of his Republican bootlickers Paxton, Cornyn, or Hunt. That's why I've made the difficult decision to end my campaign for the U.S. Senate. But I'm nowhere near done serving my community and our state. Today, I'm announcing my campaign for Congress to represent the newly drawn Congressional District 33."
Before the announcement, some Democrats had expressed disappointment that there could be three major candidates for the U.S. Senate race, instead of spreading out among the other statewide races such as governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.
In an interview last month, Crockett told CBS News Texas that she would only for U.S. Senate if polling showed she could win a general election, not just the Democratic primary. In the interview, she said she would share her internal polling with Talarico and Allred. "I'm going to open it up to them because this isn't about me ... It would be really, really, really hard for me now knowing that my district is still at least in its current configuration and knowing that my district absolutely wants me to continue to represent them wholly; it would be really, really hard. But at the end of the day, if the numbers are strong that I am our best shot, then it's bigger than my district. It's bigger than the state of Texas. This is about the country because we know if we can change the Senate map in this country, then that's where we start to get wins."
During the interview, the Crockett said she polling for the March 3 primary but instead focusing on the general election next November. Various Democrats have said they believe Paxton will win the Republican primary and because of his political baggage, they think the party has a chance to win a statewide seat for the first time in more than 30 years.
Crockett said for her to win, she could not count on Republicans crossing over to support her. "When we ended up with the Trump phenomena or even when we ended up with the Obama phenomenon, they were able to both bring out people that historically did not vote. I think that's the only way that we win in Texas is if we have a candidate that can add to the electorate. If the electorate remains the same electorate that we've had over the last 30 years, then I think we're going to end up with the same result," she said.
CBS News reported last week that Crockett confirmed she spoke with both Talarico and Allred about the Senate race.
Crockett has made national headlines by clashing with President Trump. When asked if she will energize Republicans in addition to Democrats, Matt Angle, Director of the Lone Star Project, a Democratic PAC, told CBS News Texas, "She could. I think that that's the real challenge is for her to be able to increase turnout for not just her race, but for other Democrats without motivating Republicans. I've been doing politics in Texas a long time. Republicans don't have much to brag about at any level. I'm not sure that being upset with one or two Democrats is going to overcome the fact that they're profoundly disappointed with Republican leadership that's failing them."
Vinny Minchillo, a Republican consultant in North Texas, told CBS News Texas that he agrees with those who believe Crockett cannot win a general election statewide. "I think she's a real polarizing candidate. She's fun to watch in which she goes crazy on the news. It's always interesting to watch. But I just don't think that's going to work in a general election. I think she is too extreme and too far left for even Texas Democrats," Minchillo said. "I think she'll help turn out Republicans because Republicans are not going to be comfortable with that."
Minchillo said he believes the Republican primary is headed for a runoff but doesn't know for sure which two candidates will make advance.
"We got a long way to go. This has already been a nasty race to begin with. Cornyn came out of the gate saying that he was going to take Paxton to the woodshed and put in words stronger than that. This has been pretty nasty. Cornyn has spent the summer pounding on Paxton. He's moved numbers in his favor. Now, we're seeing a little bit of back and forth. So, this is going to be really rough. The Cornyn folks have actually opened a second front. They're starting to beat on Wesley Hunt. So that's going to be tough. I don't see a path to be honest for Hunt. I just don't think he can beat either Cornyn or Paxton. Maybe a better chance to beat Cornyn, but I just don't think he can get there unless he's got a lot of money," Minchillo said
Minchillo predicts that between all of the candidates and their campaigns, plus the third-party groups that support them for both the primary, primary runoff, and general election, tat the Senate race could cost at least $750 million.
With Crockett's decision to run for the Senate, she will leave behind the 30th Congressional District she has represented since 2023. As CBS News Texas reported last week, Democratic Rep. Marc Veasey of Fort Worth, will file to run in the newly drawn 30th District, which mostly includes parts of Dallas County and a portion of eastern Tarrant County. Veasey has represented the current 33rd Congressional District, which stretches from his hometown of Fort Worth to Dallas, since 2013.
Frederick Haynes, III, senior pastor at the Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas, has also explored running for the 30th Congressional District and confirmed he was aware of an effort to draft him to run.
The newly drawn 33rd Congressional District is now entirely within Dallas County and a majority Latino district. Allred will face Democratic Rep.Julie Johnson of Farmers Branch, who succeeded Allred in the 32nd Congressional District after he ran for U.S. Senate last year against Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
The newly drawn 32nd Congressional District moves from a Democratic majority to a Republican majority. Republican candidates include Ryan Binkley, Darrell Day, Aimee Carrasco, Monty Montanez and Paul Bondar.
Longtime Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California briefly considered running in this North Texas district but changed his mind after meeting with Mr. Trump. He will run for reelection in his San Diego-area district, which was redrawn by Democrats in California to neutralize Texas' redistricting. State Rep. Katrina Pierson, R-Rockwall, also considered running for this seat, but has announced she is running for re-election in her Texas House district.