I have such mixed feelings about Talarico's win over Crockett

[markpkessinger]

I mean, he seems like a decent guy and all -- but I wish he could have found a way to run for office that wouldn't have toppled one of our fiercest warriors.

[hurl]

1. To be fair

He was in the race long before Crockett joined.

[leftstreet]

2. She'll find an office making use of that warrior spirit

[pat_k]

20. Crockett for Senate 2030

January 3 2031: Introducing the newly elected Junior Senator from TX, Jasmine Crockett, to join Senator Talarico in standing up for the great state of Texas.

[surfered]

3. Wishing her the best and thinking her for her service.

[Renew Deal]

4. He joined the race first

She joined late following Republican prompting

[rurallib]

5. know what you mean, but Cruz will be up in a few years

and Trump will have decimated his own party and Crockett will be even that better known.

I think the is just beginning.

[wnylib]

17. Hope you are right. Imagine 2 Dem Senators in TX.

[Ocelot II]

6. I like both of them, but Talarico probably has a much better chance to win a statewide election.

The unfortunate reality is that there are a lot of places in this country (and apparently the country as a whole, as we learned last November) where a woman of color can't win elections, and the state of Texas is one of them. They can win local elections in urban areas, but get out in the country and it's different. My congressional district keeps re-electing Ilhan Omar easily, but she'd be toast if she ran for the Senate because large parts of MN are basically cold Alabama, not much better than Texas.

[PatSeg]

10. I agree

I really like Crockett, she is a definite asset to the Democratic party, but I wasn't optimistic that she could win statewide in a state like Texas. Maybe someday, but not right now.

Meanwhile, the thought that we could get a Democratic senator from Texas is sometime to aspire to. With a candidate like James Talarico, it is possible, but I would still be surprised if he wins in a general election.

[Ocelot II]

11. Talarico has an uphill battle, but he might win

if Trump keeps stepping on rakes in the meantime.

[PatSeg]

14. In a normal world,

a candidate like Ken Paxton* should be easy to beat, but Texas isn't normal.


*Assuming Paxton wins the runoff.

[stopdiggin]

13. Unfortunately, yes. A sad truth - and yet truth nonetheless.

(and we must not be afraid to speak it)

[Happy Hoosier]

7. He declared first... not on him. NT

[pinkstarburst]

8. Talarico started his campaign THREE months BEFORE

Crockett entered the race.

Talarico entered the Senate race on September 9th.

Crockett entered to Senate race on December 8th. That's three months after Talarico launched his campaign. Crockett entered the race literally on the date of the filing deadline.

So no, he didn't "topple one of our fiercest warriors." He was already running for senate and was picking up lots of support among Texans. Non-Texans on this board might not be aware of that because they don't follow Texas politics as closely. Then Jasmine decided to enter the race, and did so knowing there was already a candidate in the mix who was well liked. She *could* have run for her House seat again. She took a gamble, and she lost. I am disappointed and happy because I love Talarico but I also love Jasmine. I was sad the day she announced she was running for the same senate seat as him because I desperately wanted a way to keep both of them. I hope she can find a way to keep serving going forward.

This Texan is very excited to support Talarico as he takes on Cornyn or Paxton in November and hopes everyone else at DU will be behind him, too!

[BeyondGeography]

9. I don't

And I’m a big Crockett fan. She should have had her seat in the House for as long as she wanted it and risen to leadership positions along the way. She was done in by the TX GOP, not Talarico, who is our best hope for what would be an incredible get in November.

[ananda]

12. She chose to enter this race and give up Congress.

...

[wnylib]

18. She did not have much choice about her House seat.

Her district was gerrymandered, putting her out of office.

[ananda]

22. She first said she was going to change districts.

[Towlie]

15. This is exactly what I was hoping for!

In the movie Full Metal Jacket, Marines are asked by journalists whether we should drop out or stay in the Vietnam war. When one of the Marines, played by Adam Baldwin, is asked what he thinks we should do, he replies "I think we should win".

That's the way I viewed the Senate race in Texas. If asked what I thought about whether Jasmine Crockett should drop out or stay in, I thought this is not about whether she would make a better Senator - I really like her and believe that she probably would. But this is about who has the better chance of winning.

And I think we should win.

[Torchlight]

16. What other avenues of running for office would you have suggested

for him to then better avoid toppling "one of our fiercest warriors. " ? I can only come up with not running at all, but I'm almost certain you'll provide a plethora of practical and achievable alternatives to my myopic perspective.

[pat_k]

19. His sermon against Christian Nationalism (Oct 2023) put him on my radar.

I am THRILLED to see him heading toward the national stage. Crockett would have been great, and I hope she goes after Cruz in 2030, but Talarico is a unique, and uniquely effective voice against Christian Nationalism, which has become the most SERIOUS threat we face today. It the destructive driving force that underlies the entire MAGA/Heritage/Theil horror show.

[TheProle]

23. Primary is over. I support the Democratic nominee.

[JI7]

24. He got into the race before she did. It probably helped him win also