In one of the most-watched Primary races not just in Texas but around the country, state Rep. James Talarico won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate over Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, 52 percent-46 percent.
It was a race fraught with accusations of racism — Crockett is a Black woman known for her strong and vocal opposition to the Trump administration while Talarico is a “soft-spoken” white man — and Election Day chaos over voting location changes and competing court rulings over extended voting hours.
Despite disappointment and anger among her supporters and ongoing confusion over actual vote total in Dallas and Williamson counties, Crockett conceded the election on Wednesday morning. She called Talarico to congratulate him and then, in a message to supporters, urged unity moving into the general election.
“Texas is primed to turn blue, and we must remain united because this is bigger than any one person,” Crockett said in a statement. “This is about the future of all 30 million Texans and getting America back on track.
“With the primary behind us, Democrats must rally around our nominees and win,” she continued. “I’m committed to doing my part and will continue working to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.”
While some on the right appear to have taken great pleasure in Crockett’s loss, since she has been a very vocal thorn in the Trump administration’s side. But supporters were quick to point out that even though she lost the race to Talarico, Crockett got more votes in the primary than either of the top two finishers in the Republican Primary for senate between incumbent John Cornyn and challenger Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney General.
Crockett got 1,068, 330 votes, according to the latest information from the Texas Secretary of State’s election results website, while Cornyn got 9,252 votes total, and Paxton got only 881,115 votes. Cornyn and Paxton now head to a runoff on May 26 to see who will face Talarico in the general election.
Speaking of Paxton, the right-wing and rabidly homophobic Texas Attorney General said on Wednesday that that he is “staying in the race” despite Trump announcing via Truth Social that he would be endorsing one of the two Republicans soon, and that the other should then drop out of the race so that the nominee can focus on the general election.
Voter numbers
According to the Texas Secretary of State, there are 17,485,702 registered voters in Texas, out of an estimated 22 million-plus residents aged 18 and older. Of those 8,133,683 — 47 percent — tend to vote Democrat, while 6,601,189 — 38 percent tend to vote Republican. That leaves 2,750,850 voters — 16 percent — unaffiliated with either party. Of those registered voters, the Secretary of State estimates that 4,500,000 total voted in this week’s primaries — about 2,300,000 in the Democratic Primary and 2,200,000 in the Republican Primary.
These numbers, touted as record-breaking turnout, especially among Democrats, represent only about 26 percent of registered voters.
The numbers show that what Democratic Party leaders have said all along: that turnout is key. And if Democrats can keep their momentum going through the general elections in November, the Lone Star State could, indeed, turn blue as Crockett predicted.
— Tammye Nash