ss BREAKING NEWS: Rep. Jasmine Crockett signals a political shake-up as she prepares to decide by Thanksgiving whether to jump into the Texas U.S. Senate race
Democratic U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett of Dallas told CBS News Texas she has a big decision to make before Thanksgiving: either run for re-election in the 30th Congressional District or run statewide for U.S. Senate.
She discussed the factors it would take for her to jump into the Democratic primary and join State Representative James Talarico of Austin and former Dallas Congressman Colin Allred. On Tuesday, Crockett said, “I will tell you that I still have not made up my mind. Everyone thinks that I’m just holding a secret in, but our poll is in the field right now. We are supposed to get that polling back by the end of the week, or early next week. I said I would decide by Thanksgiving.”
Crockett said she is going to share her internal polling with Talarico and Allred. “I’m going to open it up to them because this isn’t about me…It would be really, really, really hard for me now knowing that my district is still at least in its current configuration and knowing that my district absolutely wants me to continue to represent them wholly; it would be really, really hard. But at the end of the day, if the numbers are strong that I am our best shot, then it’s bigger than my district. It’s bigger than the state of Texas. This is about the country because we know if we can change the Senate map in this country, then that’s where we start to get wins.”
The Congresswoman said she’s not testing the polls for the March 3rd but is focusing on the general election next November.
The incumbent Senator, Republican John Cornyn, is facing a tough GOP primary challenge from Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Representative Wesley Hunt of Houston.
She said for her to win, she could not count on Republicans crossing over to support her. “When we ended up with the Trump phenomena or even when we ended up with the Obama phenomenon, they were able to both bring out people that historically did not vote. I think that’s the only way that we win in Texas is if we have a candidate that can add to the electorate. If the electorate remains the same electorate that we’ve had over the last 30 years, then I think we’re going to end up with the same result.”
Crockett is also considering what to do after two federal judges in Texas blocked the state from enacting the new Congressional maps approved by Republicans over the summer. The state is appealing the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Two other Democrats from North Texas who serve in Congress, Julie Johnson of Farmers Branch and Marc Veasey of Fort Worth, have told CBS News Texas they plan on running for re-election in their respective districts.
