Democrats have high hopes that James Talarico is the candidate to finally turn Texas blue.
But not everyone in the party is onboard.
And Jasmine Crockett just crushed the hopes and dreams of every Democrat this November.
Crockett Skips Texas Democrat Convention and Refuses to Back Talarico
Jasmine Crockett lost the March 3 Texas Democrat primary to State Rep. James Talarico and has been stewing ever since.
Texas Democrats hoped she'd be a team player before the state party's convention in Corpus Christi next week.
James Talarico personally called Crockett and left a message offering her the keynote speaker slot.
She didn't listen to it.
"I had a missed call that I've not returned, nor have I listened to the message from Talarico," Crockett told the Dallas Morning News. "It seemed like an afterthought invite."
She won't be attending the convention. She has "no idea" whether she'll support Talarico in November. On a Saturday live-stream, she spelled it out in language no one could misread.
"I am not currently running for US Senate," Crockett said, "and therefore you will not see me on the trail as if I am running for US Senate."
She said her priority is "down-ballot races." She repeated the word "only" six times in a row to hammer the point home.
Translation: Talarico is on his own.
The Colin Allred Feud That Is Still Tearing Texas Democrats Apart
The bad blood started in February, when a TikTok activist went viral claiming Talarico had privately called former congressman Colin Allred a "mediocre black man."
Talarico called it a mischaracterization – he said he was praising Crockett and had criticized Allred's "method of campaigning," not the man himself.
Allred wasn't buying it.
"He had the temerity and the audacity to say to a black woman that he had signed up to run against a mediocre black man," Allred said at the time.
Allred endorsed Crockett. She lost anyway – but the wound never healed.
Allred is now running for a Dallas-area congressional seat and wasn't on the convention's speaker list. Party chairman Kendall Scudder, when asked, said they "did not invite every member of Congress" to speak.
That answer didn't fly. Allred is one of the highest-profile Democrats in the state. His absence isn't an oversight – it's a message.
Why Black Voter Turnout Will Decide the Texas Senate Race
Democrats need black voters to show up at 90 percent or better to have any shot against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in November.
Black voters broke overwhelmingly for Crockett in the primary. Now the two most prominent black Democrats in Texas – Crockett and Allred – are both sitting on the sidelines while Talarico tries to turn Texas blue for the first time since 1994.
Crockett raised the alarm herself. "I've not heard a bunch of kumbaya," she told the Dallas Morning News. "People don't seem to be convinced at this point."
She also torched the ticket's chances at national fundraising. "If for some reason there's a surge," she said, "I don't think it's going to be because of anyone on this ticket."
That is a sitting U.S. congresswoman saying, on the record, that her party's Senate nominee isn't the reason Democrats might win.
Talarico vs Paxton Just Got a Lot Harder for Texas Democrats
Talarico beat Crockett on a message of Christian faith and populist economics. It played well in a primary. Against Paxton statewide, that coalition has a hole in it the size of Dallas County.
Democrats haven't won a statewide race in Texas since 1994. They've been saying Texas is "about to turn blue" for twenty years. Beto O'Rourke said it. Colin Allred said it. Lost both times.
Now they're running a state representative who once said "God is nonbinary" and whose most prominent primary rival won't even check his voicemails.
That isn't a coalition. That's a collapsed building with a flag planted on top.
The Texas Democrat Party walked into their convention with a nominee their own party won't rally behind, two of their biggest names absent, and a racial fracture they created and now can't fix.
Sources:
- Mariane Angela, "Jasmine Crockett Says Black Voters Not United Behind Talarico, Won't Attend Texas Democrat Convention," Breitbart, June 19, 2026.
- David Marcus, "Crockett's Last Stand in Texas Could Bring Down Talarico," Fox News, June 20, 2026.
- Mike LaChance, "Jasmine Crockett Still Bitter About Democrat Senate Primary in Texas, Says Black Voters Not United Behind James Talarico," The Gateway Pundit, June 20, 2026.
- Lauren McGaughy, "Crockett Won't Attend Texas Democratic Convention, Casts Doubt on Black Voter Unity Behind Talarico," The Dallas Morning News, June 19, 2026.
- Ed Morrissey, "Crockett, Allred Snub Talarico and Texas Dem Convention," HotAir, June 23, 2026.
- "James Talarico Defeats Jasmine Crockett in Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate," Texas Tribune, March 3, 2026.