(Headline USA) Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett launched a campaign Monday for the U.S. Senate in Texas, bringing a national profile to a race that may be critical to Democrats’ long-shot hopes of reclaiming a Senate majority in next year’s midterm elections.
Crockett, one of Congress’ most outspoken Democrats, jumped into the race on the final day of qualifying in Texas. She is seeking the Senate seat held by Republican John Cornyn, who is running for reelection in the GOP-dominated state.
Democrats need a net gain of four Senate seats to wrest control from Republicans next November, when most of the seats up for reelection are in states like Texas that President Donald Trump won last year. Democrats have long hoped to make Texas more competitive after decades of Republican dominance. Cornyn, first elected to the Senate since 2002, is facing the toughest GOP primary of his career against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.
🚨 WTF?! REP. JASMINE CROCKETT: "When I see ICE, I see slave patrols."
"If you know the history of policing, you understand they were born out of slave patrols."
Jasmine Crockett is ENCOURAGING violence against ICE. She must be expelled from Congress. pic.twitter.com/533hjK5PZk
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 14, 2025
Crockett’s announcement came hours after former Rep. Colin Allred ended his own campaign for the Democratic nomination in favor of attempting a House comeback bid. She faces a March 3 primary against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, a former teacher with a rising national profile fueled by viral social media posts challenging Republican policies such as private school vouchers and requiring the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
Talarico raised almost $6.3 million in the three weeks after he formally organized his primary campaign committee in September, according its first campaign finance report, and he had nearly $5 million in cash on hand at the end of the month. Crockett raised about $2.7 million for her House campaign fund from July through September and ended the month with $4.6 million in cash on hand.
Crockett also could test Democratic voters’ appetite for a someone who courts controversy with outrageous statements.
She’s been known to trade insults with the likes of Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who announced last month that she would resign in January, and had heated exchanges with Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina.
She also mocked Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — who uses a wheelchair — as “Gov. Hot Wheels.” She later said she was referring to Abbott’s policy of using “planes, trains and automobiles” to send thousands of immigrants in Texas illegally to Democratic-led cities.
Additionally, she’s referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers as “slave patrols,” and has questioned the integrity of U.S. elections—something that Republicans have been blasted for since contesting the controversial 2020 election results.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett claims Trump will rig the voting machines,
"States should reject voting machines by Dominion."pic.twitter.com/T1xZSMMRSJ
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) November 12, 2025
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
