James Talarico won the Democratic nomination for a US Senate seat in Texas on Tuesday, capping a remarkable rise from state lawmaker and seminary student to the party’s standard-bearer in one of the key races of the 2026 midterm cycle.

With his blend of faith-based populism, bipartisan appeal and generational energy, Talarico defeated Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, a firebrand beloved by the party’s base but who struggled to dispel concerns that she could defeat a Republican in a state that has not elected a Democrat statewide in more than 30 years.

A jubilant Talarico told supporters in Austin before the race was called: “We are not just trying to win an election. We are trying to fundamentally change our politics. And it’s working.”

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[–] 119 points 8 months ago (12 children)

It was frustrating to see Jasmine Crockett make the same mistakes as Kamala Harris in her campaign. Lots of “not that guy” and very little “why me”. Not once did I ever hear about Crockett’s policies in this entire election cycle. In contrast, every video of Talarico out there is him spitting bars about the same policies he has been fighting for for years.

Anyway, the battle is still ahead of us.

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  • [–] 19 points 8 months ago

    Crockett is great at the “sick burn” politics. Great for people who subscribe to RawStory for all their news, and I’d have been happy enough to vote for her, but Talarico seems to be more substantive and let’s be honest, a white guy vs black woman in Texas is a bit more of a challenge.

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  • [–] 26 points 8 months ago (4 children)

    Yeah, I couldn’t name a single policy position of hers other than her notable support for Zionism.

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  • [–] 14 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    Yeah, I couldn’t name a single policy position of hers other than her notable support for Zionism.

    She didn't really have any. Afaict, most of the people who seem to support Crockett was primarily because of her appearance as a fighter. But if you paid attention to Crockett, it was always windows dressing criticism. Criticism about style without being critical of the content.

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  • [–] 4 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    From supporters of hers I hear that she will fight Trump. Which I tend to follow up with, so what will she do once Trump is no longer in office. It's clear very few seem to be thinking that far.

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  • [–] 8 points 8 months ago*

    Yeah she had this clap back thing going on, but when you look at her actual responses, its all style commentary. Her policy positions show her to be pro-Israel in the same ways as Trump. Carte-blanche effectively.

    As an aside, here is the candidate who just took her seat (this was from October 8th 2023):

    And its an extremely safe blue seat, thanks to dummy-mandering.

    I'd call that an upgrade.

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  • [–] 8 points 8 months ago

    Particularly bad time to be a Zionist in US politics I would think. And after the oil price shock has had a chance to fuck the rural US squarely in the keister, it'll be even less.

    AI bros running their datacenters on LNG not thinking about how cutting off a quarter of the world's supply might affect their costs...

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