Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico casts himself as underdog as Texas Senate primary nears

With one week left before early voting begins in Texas and down in the latest poll, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico is portraying himself as the underdog.

"We're going up against some of the biggest names in Texas politics," Talarico said after a campaign rally at the University of North Texas in Denton. "We're going up against billionaire megadonors. We're going up against the establishment in both political parties. So, we know the deck is stacked against us. We know the odds are long, but when you see the turnout at this event here at UNT. The excitement, especially among young people, in this state for change. I'm confident we will prevail in this primary and in this general election."

Poll shows Crockett leading with early voting one week away  

The University of Houston released a new Texas poll this week, and in the Democratic primary, it shows Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of Dallas is ahead of Talarico by eight percentage points, 47-39%; 12 % are undecided. Crockett also led among voters in most demographic categories.

Talarico said he has attracted 13,000 volunteers across the state to knock on doors and make phone calls to help get his supporters to the polls. More than 300 people, many of them UNT students, filled a large classroom to hear Talarico, who has attracted big crowds across the state. Some students and adults told CBS News Texas they were still undecided, and in some cases, struggling to figure out who they will vote for because they like both Talarico and Crockett.

As he has since the beginning of his campaign, Talarico railed against billionaires and their influence on the political system and accused them of dividing the country through social media algorithms and cable news channels. 

During his remarks, he also praised the musical artist Bad Bunny, who two days earlier performed during halftime at the Super Bowl. Controversy over his performance prompted Turning Point USA to provide an alternative concert during halftime.  

"I think the message of Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show was that joy and unity and love are so much more powerful than hate and fear and division," said Talarico. "That's exactly the message of our campaign. Obviously, I'm not Bad Bunny, and this is not a Super Bowl halftime show, but the message is the same. We are bringing people together across all these manufactured divisions to change this country on behalf of working people."

Crockett has had to campaign on the weekends because she is on Capitol Hill during the week. Her campaign said Tuesday that they will be doing a variety of get-out-the-vote events next week once early voting begins. 

GOP Senate primary points toward likely runoff

Over in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, the University of Houston poll found Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton leading with 38% over incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who has 31%, and Houston Congressman Wesley Hunt back at 17%; 12% remain undecided. The contentious three-way GOP Senate race is widely expected to end in a runoff election on May 26. 

That's not expected in the Democratic primary.

Watch Eye On Politics at 7:30 Sunday morning on CBS News Texas