Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett won't say whether she'll support the man who beat her in the Texas Senate primary, and she hasn't even bothered to listen to his voicemail. With Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton waiting in November and polls showing a tight race, the Texas Democratic Party can't afford this kind of internal sabotage. But Crockett seems content to let the wound fester.
Crockett told The Dallas Morning News she has "no idea" if she plans to actively support James Talarico's general election campaign, as Newsweek reported Friday. She added that she is "more focused on down-ballot races in general", a polite way of saying the man who won the nomination fair and square doesn't rank high enough on her priority list.
It gets worse. Talarico personally called Crockett and offered her the keynote speaker slot at the Texas Democratic state convention in Corpus Christi. She didn't pick up, didn't call back, and didn't listen to the voicemail.
"I had a missed call that I've not returned, nor have I listened to the message from Talarico. It seemed like an afterthought invite. I can't say for sure, because I haven't listened to it."
Read that again. She's calling it an afterthought, while admitting she never listened to the message. Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder pushed back, saying Crockett has had the convention invitation since March and "continues to have a standing invite." The party, Scudder said, "would love to have her there."
The backstory matters. Talarico, a Texas state representative, defeated Crockett in the March primary with 52.8% of the vote to her 45.9%, as the New York Post reported. The margin wasn't razor-thin. It wasn't a coin flip. Talarico won decisively.
Crockett was also massively outspent, $4.3 million in ad spending compared to Talarico's $17.6 million. And Republicans made no secret of which Democrat they preferred. Fox News host Sean Hannity said openly, "We're cheering for Jasmine Crockett," viewing her as the less electable candidate in a general election matchup.
When Crockett conceded on March 4, 2026, she struck a very different tone than the one she's using now. Her concession statement declared, "Texas is primed to turn blue and we must remain united because this is bigger than any one person," Just The News reported.
Bigger than any one person, unless that person is Jasmine Crockett, apparently.
Crockett's sharpest comments targeted Democratic unity among Black voters. She told The Dallas Morning News that enthusiasm is lacking across the board.
"I've not heard a bunch of kumbaya. People don't seem to be convinced at this point, but there's a lot of time between now and November."
There's a kernel of legitimate concern here. Black voter turnout is a real strategic question for any Democrat running statewide in Texas, and Talarico, a younger candidate whose name recognition among older Black voters may be limited, faces a genuine challenge on that front. Gordon Abner, an associate professor at the University of Texas, told Newsweek that Crockett's lack of support will hurt Talarico directly.
"I think Talarico needs all the support he can get, especially from Black Democrats and Black Democratic women. They are the most consistent base of the party. Not having clear and strong support from Jasmine Crockett will absolutely hurt him."
Abner added that it would be "foolish to assume" Talarico's name recognition is as strong among older Black voters as among younger ones, and that "assumptions are always dangerous" when it comes to turnout predictions. Fair enough. But the question is whether Crockett is raising these concerns to help solve the problem, or to make it worse.
The recent ouster of longtime Texas Democrat Al Green already shook the party's standing among its most loyal voters. Crockett's public sulking adds another crack in the foundation at a moment Democrats can't afford one.
Grant Davis Reeher, a professor of political science at Syracuse University, offered Newsweek a blunter assessment. He called Crockett's comments "damning in their absence of praise or support."
"She has 'no idea' whether she'll support a fellow Democrat running against Ken Paxton? Really?"
Reeher went further, calling her remarks about the convention invitation "petty and self-serving." He noted that each candidate in the primary made the case they'd be the stronger general election pick, so Crockett's apparent offense at Talarico's campaign making the same argument doesn't hold up.
He also put the episode in a broader context that should worry every Democrat strategist in the country. This kind of infighting, Reeher said, "may be a preview of the party's dysfunctions to come in 2028, if it can't sort this kind of problem out."
That framing is worth sitting with. The Texas Senate race isn't a backwater contest. Paxton is one of the most prominent Republican officeholders in the country, having won the CPAC endorsement and straw poll as the Texas Senate picture took shape. If Democrats can't unify behind their own nominee in a race this high-profile, it says something about the structural health of the party, not just in Texas, but nationally.
What makes Crockett's posture so damaging for her own party is the polling. Two surveys conducted in early June paint a competitive picture. A Quantus Insights poll of 800 likely Texas voters, conducted June 3, 4, showed Paxton leading Talarico 45% to 43%, with 7% undecided and a margin of error of 3.5%.
A Texas Pulse Poll conducted by ReconMR and the Texas A&M Bush School, surveying 807 likely voters from June 1, 4, showed Talarico and Paxton tied at 46%, with a margin of error of 4%.
Those numbers suggest a genuinely competitive race, the kind of race where every endorsement, every rally appearance, every public signal of unity matters. And Crockett is withholding all of it.
Talarico, for his part, has been working to shore up his coalition. At the end of last month, he received the endorsement of the Texas Organizing Project, a progressive group that had previously backed Crockett. In the endorsement release, Talarico acknowledged the stakes directly, as Newsmax reported.
"I am honored to earn this endorsement, and I want to be direct: I do not win this race without working-class Black and Latino Texans. Full stop. They have the most to lose if we fail, and the most to gain if we win."
That's the right message for a candidate trying to build a broad coalition. But Talarico can't build it alone, and the most prominent Black Democrat in Texas politics is sitting on her hands.
Reeher's observation about Crockett's political style is worth noting. He told Newsweek that "as a Member of Congress, Crockett made a political living out of provocative comments that stirred up a portion of the party's base and alienated others, so perhaps this set of comments isn't that surprising."
That tracks. This is the same party that has seen elected Democrats face public backlash for reckless statements that serve personal brand-building at the expense of broader credibility. Crockett's refusal to support her party's nominee fits the mold: personal grievance dressed up as principled concern.
Crockett's campaign had even hinted at potential legal action over voting irregularities during the primary, as Breitbart noted. That threat apparently fizzled, but the resentment didn't.
Meanwhile, the Texas Democratic Party is left trying to project unity while one of its most visible figures publicly refuses to play along. Scudder, the party chair, is reduced to issuing polite statements about standing invitations while Crockett tells reporters she hasn't even listened to the voicemail.
The contradictions that plague Texas Democrats extend well beyond this single race. But the Crockett-Talarico rift puts the dysfunction on full display at the worst possible time.
Newsweek reached out to both Crockett's office and Talarico's campaign via email on Friday. No responses were reported. The silence from Crockett's side is consistent with everything else she's done, or rather, hasn't done, since March.
Talarico faces a difficult general election against Paxton regardless. Texas remains a challenging state for Democrats in midterm cycles, and Abner's warning about turnout assumptions applies broadly. But the challenge gets harder when a defeated primary opponent treats party unity like an optional favor rather than a baseline expectation.
Crockett said in March that the fight was "bigger than any one person." Four months later, she's making it all about one person, herself. And Ken Paxton is the only one who benefits.
