Joe Holley, a speechwriter for former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, writes columns and editorials for the Houston Chronicle.
Whenever I hear the name Jasmine Crockett — she’s the bold and brash Democratic congresswoman from Dallas — I can’t help but think of the other Crockett, the one most folks around the country know. That would be Davy Crockett, of course.
Also a politician, Davy was a congressman from Tennessee until he got his coonskin cap handed to him in his 1835 bid for reelection. The disgusted future Disney hero decamped to Texas, but not before he got off a parting shot at Tennessee voters: “You all may go to hell, and I will go to Texas.”
The latter-day Crockett, now that she’s a declared candidate for the U.S. Senate, may not bring hell to her fellow Texas Democrats but she has already stirred up turmoil. She made the announcement Monday, just hours after former Rep. Colin Allred, who ran a respectable U.S. Senate race in a losing effort last year against incumbent Ted Cruz, dropped out of the 2026 Democratic senate primary race.
Saying he wanted to avoid “a bruising Senate Democratic primary and runoff,” Allred announced he’ll run for the House from the newly drawn 33rd congressional district in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Crockett’s candidacy may also have cast a worrisome shadow on the glow many Texas Democrats were beginning to see in her remaining Democratic primary opponent. James Talarico, a young state House member from the Austin area, is not only uncommonly eloquent, but he’s also a part-time ministerial student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Although he may be a tad bit Mr. Rogers-earnest, he’s adept at framing progressive ideals and policies within the context of his Christian beliefs, not unlike Sen. Raphael G. Warnock of Georgia.
Democrats across the country have noticed, particularly after the 36-year-old politician/preacher spent nearly three hours on the Joe Rogan podcast in July. Rogan told him he ought to run for president.
The Talarico boomlet — also fueled by over 1.5 million followers on TikTok — has the makings of a Beto O’Rourke-style love affair. (The Beto boomlet fizzled after the former congressman lost his two statewide races and flamed out in his quixotic run for president.) And as Talarico is well aware, his party’s three-decade-plus exile from statewide office in Texas approaches the Israelites’ epic wilderness sojourn.
Texas Democrats desperately need a compelling candidate, but even compelling candidates, whatever the party, have not fared well against the front-running Republican nominee, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Detested by Texas Dems at a level matched only by their disdain for President Donald Trump, Paxton has been AG since 2015, winning reelection in 2018 and 2022. He’s been impeached by his fellow Republicans (though not convicted) and has corruption and ethics violations following him like Pigpen’s cloud of dust. In the 2022 Republican primary, the MAGA true-believer ousted a respected former member of the Texas Supreme Court.
Just a few months before the March primary, Democrats were feeling good — or as good as Texas Democrats can feel — as they anticipated the prospect of one of their candidates taking on a deeply flawed Republican such as Paxton. Now, Democrats worry that Crockett’s late entry into the race messes with the winnability scenario not just for Texas, but also for the nation, in light of the fact that Dems need as many upsets as possible to maybe, just maybe, win control of the Senate. They worry there will be bruises, intramural bruises, even though Allred, a former NFL linebacker, has left the field.
The tart-tongued Crockett, 44, no doubt relishes the possibility of targeting Paxton — and Trump. “I’m coming for you,” she warned the president during her campaign launch. Most Texas Democrats would love the show, but the problem with her candidacy is that her reputation precedes her.
Granted, neither Crockett nor Talarico is going to attract the MAGA faithful, who would vote for Paxton even if he shot a man on Congress Avenue in downtown Austin. Talarico, though, may have a chance with Bush-style Republicans disaffected with Trump. (They still exist as an endangered species in ruby-red Texas but are in political hibernation.) The firebrand Crockett has no chance with that group. She also might have trouble attracting independent voters.
The other problem with Crockett as the candidate is that Paxton may not be her opponent. The AG has to vanquish John Cornyn, the stolid, white-haired incumbent who’s been in office since 2002 and was a Senate Majority Leader candidate in 2024. Although Paxton leads in the polls, the well-financed Cornyn seems to be making headway by exploiting the AG’s latest quagmire, a nasty divorce brought by his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, on “biblical grounds,” i.e. adultery.
Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt, a retired Army officer from Houston, is also running. Hunt is a long-shot, but he’ll likely force the primary race into a runoff.
So what’s a good Texas Democrat to do? Oft-disappointed through the decades, many of us have grown gray and weary awaiting the arrival of The One. Maybe this time a young preacher will lead us out of the wilderness. Maybe a sharp Black woman who knows how to get under Trump’s thin skin. Maybe, but we’ve learned to be realistic.
I’m guessing that most Democrats would have preferred to see Crockett stay in the House. As the caustic, outspoken voice of those under attack by Trump and his minions, the congresswoman has carved out a vital role. She’s a fighter, and Texans admire that. Like the other Crockett, who, according to legend, went down swinging Ol’ Betsy against his attackers at the Alamo, Jasmine Crockett would indeed put up a rousing fight — in a losing cause.
Running against Paxton or Cornyn, the preacher boy just might win.
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