Jasmine Crockett Expected To Launch Senate Campaign
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett is set to decide Monday whether she stays in the House or detonates the 2026 Senate map by jumping into the Democratic primary to challenge Sen. John Cornyn. As the Dallas Morning News put it, her move would “dramatically reshape” the race.
Crockett hasn’t made the call yet. What she has done is prepare two cashier’s checks — one to file for reelection, the other to launch a Senate bid. She scheduled an announcement event 90 minutes before the filing deadline and still can’t tell her staff which direction she’ll go. Asked when she’d make the call, she told CNN she hopes to decide “early that day.”
The Dallas congresswoman has spent the past week phoning allies, donors, and operatives, leaving many convinced she sounds like someone gearing up for a statewide run. According to multiple people familiar with those conversations, she’s floated political musical chairs: urging Colin Allred to run for governor, Rep. Joaquin Castro to run for attorney general, and presenting herself as the new force capable of energizing the state’s base.
Meanwhile, Allred announced Monday he is leaving the Senate race entirely to run for his old House seat, a recalibration that only intensifies the vacuum Crockett is considering stepping into.
Crockett, 44, is a former state representative and civil rights attorney who has vaulted onto the national stage with viral takedowns of Republicans. She’s a relentless critic of President Donald Trump and a sharp counterpuncher in congressional hearings, often turning GOP attacks into viral moments.
Supporters say that same energy is exactly what Texas Democrats need in a Senate race long written off as unwinnable. Her fundraising prowess, national profile, and ability to turn out younger, Black, and Latino voters have made her one of the most talked-about Democrats in the country.
But there’s anxiety, too. Republicans still gleefully circulate her missteps, including calling Gov. Greg Abbott “Gov. Hot Wheels” and mistakenly linking several GOP figures to a Jeffrey Epstein who wasn’t that Jeffrey Epstein. Party strategists warn that a polarizing nominee could spike GOP turnout and drag down Democrats in competitive House and state legislative races freshly redrawn by Republicans.
One senior Democrat put it bluntly: “She jumps in, and the question is why?”
The Senate seat remains a long shot, but Republicans are locked in a brutal primary featuring Cornyn, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Rep. Wesley Hunt. The attacks are costly, personal, and likely to end in a May runoff. If Paxton wins, Democrats will face a scandal-plagued nominee weighed down by years of investigations, an impeachment attempt, and public marital turmoil.
For some Democrats, it’s the kind of GOP implosion the party should be capitalizing on — not countering with its own internal meltdown.
Crockett, for her part, insists she’s approaching the race seriously.
“I’m not crazy,” she said. “It’s weird that people believe that I could win the races that I won and I’m just like out here willy-nilly. But OK.”
She’s studied the opposition research circulating about her and argues that her style could be the key to turning out voters who otherwise sit out midterm-level contests. “Calling Marjorie ‘Bleach Blonde’ may work nationally,” she said. “Who knows how that plays in Texas?”
A University of Houston and Texas Southern University poll from October showed Crockett leading a hypothetical four-way primary with 31%, ahead of Beto O’Rourke, James Talarico, and Allred. That poll only surveyed 600 people, but it sharpened interest in what Crockett could do if she entered the race.
“There’s a real shot she wins the primary,” said one Democratic official. “But I think she’s our least competitive general election candidate.”
Others strongly disagree. Carroll Robinson of the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats believes she has the charisma and attention-grabbing presence to cut through political noise. “Jasmine’s going to make the Texas Senate race the hottest show on Broadway,” he said.
Months before Crockett’s potential bid, Allred, Talarico, O’Rourke, and Castro met privately to map out a coordinated slate of candidates for governor, attorney general, lieutenant governor, and Senate. The idea fizzled instantly — egos, ambitions, and Abbott’s towering reelection war chest left the plan DOA.
Crockett wasn’t invited and says she never expected to be. Now, she’s consulting those same local leaders as she considers the cost of stepping away from a safe House seat and disappearing from Congress during “the second half of a Trump presidency.”
But she also believes the statewide boost could matter in 2026 — and beyond.
If anything, the criticism has only nudged her closer to running.
“That is how I work,” she said. “Maybe normal people are like, ‘Oh, I’m being attacked, so maybe I run away.’ But I’m like, ‘I eat attacks for breakfast.’”
Her decision arrives Monday. Texas Democrats are bracing themselves either way.
