With Primary Election Day officially here, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and State Rep. James Talarico will know by the end of the night who will face off against the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Republican John Cornyn.
Both Crockett and Talarico sat down with KERA's Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning to discuss the race.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
James Talarico
Miranda Suarez: In a race between two Democrats who are very ideologically similar, why you?
James Talarico: Well, I think I bring something unique to this primary fight. I bring a track record of winning tough races like this. I'm the only candidate in this primary who has been in a competitive general election. I first got elected to the state house by flipping a Trump district in a county that was so red, it hadn't voted for a Democrat for president since Jimmy Carter. And then once I was in the legislature, as a Democrat in a Republican dominated body, I was able to bring Democrats and Republicans together to beat special interests and lower costs for working Texans. And that's exactly what people want in a senator, because the real fight in this country is not left versus right, it's top versus bottom. We are building a movement that is bigger than any one political party. It's bigger than going after one politician. We are trying to take on the system itself.
Suarez: Well, let me ask you, if you win the primary, how would you try to replicate that flip you talked about? How would you beat a Republican in a state where a Democrat hasn't won a statewide seat since — in decades?
Talarico: Well, we need to bring working people together across all these divisions, the partisan divisions, the racial, religious, cultural divisions. We need to bring people together so we can take power away from those at the very top, the billionaires who run the social media algorithms, who own the cable news networks, who own a lot of the politicians fighting on our screens. Those billionaires want us all fighting each other. They want us focused on how we're different instead of on how we're the same. They don't want us to notice that they are picking our pockets, that they're closing our schools, gutting our healthcare, and cutting taxes for themselves while they raise taxes on all of us. And so I want to bring working people together all over Texas to bring power back into our communities and unrig this broken system.
Suarez: Let me ask you about one of the media narratives that I think has arisen around your campaign, which is about you and Jasmine Crockett's differing styles. You know, I think there's this thing going around where it's like, Talarico makes nice; Crocket fights more. Do you agree with that dichotomy?
Talarico: I don't. I know that the media tries to put us in these boxes, but anyone who's seen my work in the state legislature knows that I fight tooth and nail for our values and for the people of this state. I took on the billionaire mega donors who are trying to defund our schools with a private school voucher scam. I stood up to the governor and lieutenant governor. I've stood up too powerful Republicans who are trying to use my faith to hurt our neighbors. And I stood up to the President of the United States when I led the quorum break last summer to shine a national spotlight on his redistricting power grab. So I know how to fight. But I also know how to deliver. I know to work across the aisle with those same Republicans when we do agree. And I've been able to pass major legislation to bring down costs for working people. So I think Texans deserve a Senator who can do both, who can fight and who can get things done.
Suarez: If you do lose the primary, do you plan to kind of coalesce around Crockett and support her in her run?
Talarico: Absolutely. I will be behind her a thousand percent. I will campaign all over this state. I will make sure that we get her over the finish line.
Suarez: Is there a Republican that you would rather run against?
Talarico: I'm not running against any of these Republicans. I am running against this broken, corrupt political system. So it doesn't matter to me who comes out of that runoff, because I already know who I'm running against.
Suarez: You are running against one of them though. Do you think that either will have an easier path of electability for you as the candidate?
Talarico: I think we'll beat either of them.
Suarez: I wanted to ask you, too, if you were a member of Congress today, how you would respond to the huge news over the weekend of the beginning of this war with Iran. If you were a senator today, what do you think your response to that development would be?
Talarico: Well, I was 12 years old when 9-11 happened, so I know the importance of keeping this nation safe. As a millennial, I also saw how military disasters like the Iraq War robbed this nation of young lives, of billions of dollars, and of our moral standing in the world. I worry that we're about to repeat those same mistakes. And so, at the very least, the executive branch, the president, needs to go before Congress and seek authorization for this new war. And I think that most Texans, most Americans are sick of forever wars, and we're ready to bring those resources back home to serve people here, to lower people's costs, and to help working families across Texas and across America.
Suarez: Congress has been accused of abdicating a lot of its power to the president. It has incredibly low approval ratings and has for a long time. It is trapped in gridlock. Why go to the Senate?
Talarico: Well, I think we need a new generation of leaders who are going to step up and take on this broken system to ensure that we have checks and balances, to ensure we have elected leaders who are serving the people and not billionaire mega donors, people who are actually going to fight to lower costs and revitalize the American dream. That's exactly why I'm running. I have a history of doing that in the state legislature and I think I can do that in halls of power in our nation's capital on behalf of my constituents here in Texas.
Suarez: And not to ask you before you even know the result, but I'm curious what you think the result of this primary will say about the future of the Democratic Party. Do you think that it will demonstrate anything to the national party that's of note?
Talarico: Well, I hope it's going to demonstrate that we are ready to build the big tent necessary to win this election. We're going to have to inspire Democrats to show up at the polls. We're going to bring in new voters, particularly young voters. And I'm excited to see that we have seen a surge in youth turnout all over the state. Our campaign has been working diligently in every corner of Texas to turn out those young voters and we're going to have to welcome people who feel disillusioned on the other side, people who are looking for a new home. If we can build that big coalition, if we can build that big tent, not only can we win this race in Texas in November, we can transform this broken political system together.
Jasmine Crockett
Ron Corning: You're faced with an opponent who, on many of the issues, is exactly where you are. So it comes down to you. And what would you say your core message has been to those undecided voters?
Jasmine Crockett: I think that right now a couple of things have been really important. I've been telling people to follow the money. I think it's unprecedented that our governor has invested over $3 million into attacking me in the primary, but if you follow the money, it is clear that this administration along with the Republicans are concerned about my candidacy. I also argued much to the dismay of a number of people that we could win this state just with expansion. And right now, what we've seen is an expanded voter base of Democrats, and therefore Democrats have outvoted the Republicans. I argued that that is the way to the win, and there are many that argue that that is not the way. But right now, if this race was to be over and this was a general election, Democrats would have won. And most importantly, considering what we just saw take place as it relates to Iran, I think that right now we need people that are experienced on the federal level. The federal level is not the state level, I know because I served on both. I've been serving on the federal level now for almost four years. We need to send someone who's not only experienced, but experienced under this type of climate.
Corning: So you're highlighting your experience, you're highlighting your knowledge of what's happening right now in Congress. And it also sounds like you're rising up to meet the descriptive, which has followed you fora very longtime, that you're a fighter. If you were to boil it down to style, you are a fighter, and Talarico may want to make nice. And I only present that dichotomy because that is what plays out in the media. How do you process that sort of dichotomy? Do you agree with that? And is that good place to be in this race?
Crockett: I think that right now, the discontentment that we see with the Democratic base, and frankly, Republicans and independents is that they feel as if there is no checks and balances. They feel as though no one is fighting hard enough. I am guided by the Constitution. I am guided by the oath that I took. And when it's time to buck the system, even if that means bucking against the president or the head of the DOJ, Pam Bondi, or Kristi Noem, you're going to find me fighting. At the same time, you're going to find someone who brought the second largest amount of dollars home from the Reconnecting Communities Grant, which is all about infrastructure dollars, I brought $30 million to the district. That was the second-largest that was granted in the entire state or in the country, sorry. So there is something to be said for being able to fight on behalf of the people, whether it's for their healthcare, whether it is for their education, whether it was for jobs. Or whether it's for housing, while at the same time being able to actually do what we are really supposed to do, which is to actually deliver results in the form of bringing back a lot of those tax dollars home to better the lives of the constituents that we deserve.
Corning: I know polling has shown there's a clear distinction in who supports James Talarico and who supports you. I'm wondering, do you feel confident, if you win the nomination, that voters from both sides will come together to form the kind of coalition that political pundits say Democrats need to win in this Republican state?
Crockett: I do. I think that because this is a terrible environment for the Republicans right now, it's going to help us. I remember being in Duncanville at a polling location on the last day of early vote and a couple came up to me and said, we were so proud to vote for you. We have been Republicans our entire lives and no more. So it was great to hear, right? But these are people that are my constituents currently. These are people that, you know, as a sitting member of Congress, it doesn't matter your political affiliation once I'm elected, right? Like I service everyone. And it's something to be said for just kind of doing your job. And so I was really excited that they voted for me, just kind of generally speaking, but it is clear that the environment itself is going to give us a little bit of a boost the same way that it happened in 2018 with Beto. We know that in the midterms after a Trump presidency, they tend to be quite brutal on Trump. Trump knows this as well. That's why he's talked about federalizing elections or doing an executive order so that there are no elections. That's what he went through and he wanted to gerrymander districts. That's they're pushing for the SAVE Act. I mean, this is why they are leading the charge in voter suppression because they know that their policies are not something that the American people, no matter their political affiliation, are really too high on. And so, frankly, we're going to talk to everyone. And one of our great advantages is that the Republicans are absolutely headed to a runoff. They will be running and fighting one another until May. That gives us an opportunity to actually just have a head start on engaging in these communications and taking our time to really better build on a rapport with the people around this state. And I think that that's a big advantage. You don't know with someone who's never been there. But with me, as we go through this general election, you would have someone that can answer those questions in real time, because I absolutely know what's taking place as a current sitting member of Congress.
Corning: James Talarico just told us that if you win, he'll campaign for you. If he wins, will you campaign for him?
Crockett: Absolutely. I mean, the reality is that it has to be bigger than any single individual. This is about us winning. That is what it's about. It is about us winning. And when I say us winning, I mean us as Texans.
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