Talarico defeats Crockett in Texas Senate Democratic primary

He took a big-tent approach to his campaign by appealing to voters from both parties and independents.

James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks during an event, in San Antonio, Texas, on March 1, 2026. | Brenda Bazán/AP

State Rep. James Talarico won the Texas Senate Democratic primary, defeating Rep. Jasmine Crockett and giving party leaders the candidate they had quietly seen as the stronger option to flip the ruby-red state.

The race was defined by questions of electability and simmering racial tensions, as Talarico and Crockett worked to reassemble the party’s fractured multiracial coalition. That carried over through Tuesday, with both candidates raising concerns that voters had been disenfranchised in Crockett’s home base of Dallas County, which includes a large number of Black voters.

The legal dispute over voting precincts in Dallas could cast a shadow over his victory. Crockett told her supporters not to expect a final call on election night.

© Politico