Rising Democratic star James Talarico is headed to the general election after he beat Rep. Jasmine Crockett, another superstar for the party, in the Texas Democratic primary.
The 36-year-old state representative was able to pull off a clean victory and avoid a runoff in May after he secured more than 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday.
Both Talarico and Crockett spent the final stretch of the race barnstorming the state as the election appeared to be a toss-up until the very end with the leader in the polls swinging back and forth between the pair as the clock ticked down.
Talarico now faces the uphill battle as Democrats look to flip a Texas Senate seat blue, something the country has not seen in more than 30 years, despite a serious push in recent years.
Crockett, a lawyer who represents parts of Dallas, had been calling for the polls to be kept open late on Tuesday and argued voters had been disenfranchised after new restrictions on where people could vote led to confusion in the area where she was running up her numbers.
The Democratic candidates and groups backing them spent $30 million on advertising in the race, according to tracking by Ad Impact. Talarico spent the vast majority of it with more than $24 million spent in political ads while Crockett dropped about $5 million on ads.
Talarico, who represents parts of Austin, went viral as a Presbyterian seminarian and former public school teacher who has won over prominent podcasters like Joe Rogan. He also appeared on The Daily Beast podcast wth Joanna Coles.
He recently made national headlines after “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert accused CBS of refusing to air his interview amid pressure from the FCC. The move appeared to give Talarico a major polling boost in the final days of the race.
Democrats had a surge in early voting with more than 1.5 million people voting in the Democratic primary, according to data from VoteHub, more than double the number cast in the 2022 midterms when the governor’s race was on the ballot. That’s more than the GOP primary where 1.3 million voters cast ballots before Election Day.
Democrats can breath a sigh of relief to have avoided have to spend more on the runoff, but the real fight truly begins now as they look to November.
Democrats have viewed MAGA-backed embattled state Attorney General Ken Paxton as an ideal candidate to run against in the general election because of both his personal baggage and controversies while in office.
In the final stretch, both candidates argued they were the best candidate to take on the Republicans in November.
While Talarico and Crockett were vastly different in style, they’ve been largely aligned on policy and the progressive wing of the party. Both candidates had been messaging heavily on affordability and taking on the billionaire class and corruption.
Talarico and Crocket have proven to be formidable fundraisers during the primary and would likely rake in massive sums for the November election.
Republicans are also facing significant headwinds in the midterms as President Donald Trump struggles with record-low approval after just over one year back in office, but no Democrat has won a statewide race in Texas in more than 30 years, and no Democrat has won a U.S. Senate race in the state since 1988.
Sen. Ted Cruz beat Democrat Colin Allred by more than eight points to secure a third term in 2024. Cornyn won his reelection bid in 2020 by nearly 10 points.
The closest Democrats have come in recent years of picking up the Senate seat was when Beto O’Rourke lost by just 2.5 percent to Cruz in 2018. It was the last midterm election with President Donald Trump in the White House.
