What it will take for Talarico to win over Crockett’s Black voter base

While Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett didn’t win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in the party’s primary earlier this month, she did receive overwhelming support from Texas’ Black voters.

Now, nominee James Talarico must find a way to bring Crockett’s supporters into his campaign before the general election in November.

According to political experts and strategists who spoke with The Texas Newsroom, winning over those voters is critical if Talarico hopes to win the U.S. Senate seat and become the first Democrat to hold a statewide office in the Lone Star State for more than three decades.

The congresswoman, who represents a Dallas-area district in the U.S. House of Representatives, received particularly strong support from voters in Texas’ largest cities.

“If we look at the primary voting results, clearly Jasmine Crockett did very well in the urban areas, particularly here in Harris County and also in Dallas and Tarrant County,” said Michael Adams, a political science professor at Texas Southern University in Houston.

Texas politicos say Crockett showed a unique ability to consolidate support among Black voters in Texas.

Matt Angle — who runs the Lone Star Project, a Democratic political action committee — said Crockett’s performance surpassed other prominent Black candidates who previously ran statewide.

“She did a better job than Ron Kirk when he ran statewide and got nominated in 2002,” Angle told The Texas Newsroom. “She did a better job than Colin Allred did just two years ago when he was nominated for the U.S. Senate.”

Talarico’s challenge: (Re)inspiring disappointed Crockett supporters

Given her popularity among Black Democrats in Texas, it’s not surprising that many of Crockett’s voters are now significantly less enthused about this year’s U.S. Senate race. 

“I think there’s a sentiment of great disappointment amongst Black women,” said Dallas Jones, a political analyst and Democratic strategist.

“They often feel as though they show up for the party, but the party does not frequently enough show up to them,” added Jones, saying some point to Crockett’s failure to secure the Democratic nomination as further proof of that. 

The sentiment has also been visible on social media, where it’s been easy to find Crockett supporters expressing their frustration since the primary earlier this month.

“At the end of a Democratic primary, people have their preferred candidates,” said Cliff Walker, who runs Seeker Strategies, a communications and advocacy firm. “Afterwards, the work is always to reunite the party.”

Talarico acknowledged that very challenge during his victory speech, where he explicitly addressed Crockett’s supporters 

“It’s on me to ensure you feel welcomed in, represented by, and proud of this campaign,” he said.

Crockett has also signaled she’s willing to help unify Democrats before the general election. The morning after the race was decided, she posted on X that she called Talarico to congratulate him and said she was “committed to doing her part” in “working to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.”

In a later livestream, Crockett emphasized the stakes of the U.S. Senate race in Texas.

“No matter what, whether it’s Ken Paxton or John Cornyn, anyone would be better,” she said.

What’s next for the campaign

If Talarico hopes to win over Black voters in Texas who were firmly in Crockett’s camp, there are a few things experts recommend he do — including getting visible backing from influential Black leaders in the state. 

“He’s going to need to be able to get a number of well-known Black politicians — so Jasmine Crockett, but then, also some of those who’ve been around for a while — to come out in strong support,” said Eric McDaniel, a government professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “Basically, [to] show up at his rallies and be proxies for him.”

Walker said outreach to Black communities across the state will also be important.

“I think there are great opportunities to engage Divine Nine leadership in chapters across the state,” Walker said, referring to historically Black fraternities and sororities. “Visits at HBCUs that are exciting, that get people not just to show up to a rally but to get registered and plugged in so they can participate in the campaign.”

But McDaniel warns that outreach alone may not be enough — especially if voters perceive it as sudden or insincere.

“There’s this thing about authenticity,” McDaniel said. “He should have been doing this two or three years ago, just popping up at random events, letting people get to know him.”

Between now and November, Talarico will have to balance winning over Crockett’s supporters, keeping his own voters engaged and appealing to the broader electorate.

If successful, he could become the first Democrat to win a statewide office in Texas since 1994.

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