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James Talarico, an Austin state lawmaker, won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in Texas, defeating Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and immediately framed his victory as more than a party win. In a victory speech Wednesday night, Talarico delivered a message that he said was aimed at overcoming division and replacing hate-based politics with what he called “a ‘politics of love.’” The win also put him on a pathway to a November matchup in a state Democrats have long struggled to win statewide.
Talarico, 36, told supporters “We’re done being divided. We’re done being played,” and he invoked his Christian faith multiple times as he tried to unify the party after a high-profile primary. He also said, “We’re not just trying to win an election,” adding that Democrats are trying “to fundamentally change our politics,” according to his remarks. He further said he was “tired of being told to hate my neighbor.”
Crockett, 44, conceded earlier Wednesday morning, telling voters that Texas “must remain united because this is bigger than any one person.” In the primary campaign’s final stretch, Talarico also received political support from former Vice President Kamala Harris, who previously backed Crockett in the Democratic contest.
The general election opponent will come from the Republican runoff underway after Tuesday’s advancement, with Talarico set to face either U.S. Sen. John Cornyn or Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. AP reported that conventional political wisdom treats Talarico as the stronger Democratic candidate in November, particularly in a potential matchup with Paxton, who has faced years of allegations involving corruption and infidelity.
Talarico’s campaign messaging differed from Crockett’s, and the transition is likely to test Democrats on turnout and persuasion. AP reported that Talarico acknowledged his “immediate challenge” was consolidating support from Crockett backers, who had rallied behind Crockett’s “unapologetically pugilistic” approach toward Trump and Republicans. Talarico told those supporters, “I hope to earn your trust,” in his victory remarks.
AP also described the contrast between candidates’ public styles and core themes. Talarico rarely raises his voice and is a Presbyterian seminarian and former teacher who advocates for public education, while Crockett is a frequent critic of Trump who presented a more combative posture. But AP reported that Talarico’s broader argument was not limited to Trump; he regularly attacked what he described as the country’s fundamental divide being “top vs. bottom,” and he said he was not running “against Cornyn, Paxton or ‘any one politician’” but against “the billionaire mega donors and their corrupt political system.”
Democrats’ path to winning in Texas is shaped by the coalition they build after the primary. AP reported that unofficial primary returns showed Talarico performing strongly in and around Austin and across much of rural and small-town Texas, including the Rio Grande Valley, while Crockett was stronger in metro Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including areas with large concentrations of Black voters. AP added that a Democratic win would require stitching together a multiethnic and multiregional coalition spanning metro areas and heavily Latino South and West Texas while limiting Republican margins in whiter rural counties.
In interviews around the campaign, supporters described the competing appeals. AP reported that Troy Burrow, a 61-year-old Navy retiree, described Crockett as “rugged” and “the only one I see fighting for us,” and he said, “I like how she doesn’t back down from anybody.” Burrow also said he thought some voters saw Talarico as more electable because he is more soft-spoken, but he warned, “We’ve got to get into the gutter with these folks, because that’s where they are.”
Talarico, for his part, used faith-infused language to argue for direct political confrontation. He said, “Two thousand years ago, when the powerful few at the top hurt those at the bottom, that barefoot rabbi didn’t stay in his room and pray,” and he added: “He walked into the seat of power and flipped over the tables of injustice.” Talarico concluded that “it’s time to start flipping tables.”
Several voters AP spoke with said they saw Talarico as capable of drawing in people who had stayed away from politics. AP reported that in his closing days, Talarico said, “If you hate politics and you never voted before, you have a home in this campaign,” and he also reached out to erstwhile Trump voters who were “fed up with the extremism and the corruption in our government.” AP reported that Lori Alvarez, a 39-year-old who works for a disaster relief nonprofit, said she supported him because “he really listens to what we need,” and she added, “I think he’s going to be able to make change in Washington for us.”
The primary result leaves Democrats with a unified nominee but unresolved questions about how well the party’s divided instincts can combine—between Crockett’s combative approach and Talarico’s message of unity and faith-driven reform. With the GOP runoff determining the general election opponent—Cornyn or Paxton—Talarico’s next task is to bring Crockett’s base into his broader framework of “top vs. bottom” politics and persuade Texas voters that the Democratic standard-bearer can win statewide after decades of losses.