Dems Worry James Talarico Lacks Support From Black Voters to Win Texas Senate Race– www.dailysignal.com
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DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Democrats are warning that their party’s nominee to be the next senator for Texas, James Talarico, apparently lacks the amount of support from black voters he needs to flip the traditionally Republican state.
“Listen, my home state of Texas, we feel incredibly encouraged for two reasons,” Ashley Etienne, formerly the communications director for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker on Sunday. “But the challenge is: the only way you win the state of Texas as a Democrat is if you overperform with Black voters.”
“I just came back from Houston last night, meeting with operatives on the ground and state elected officials. They are concerned that there’s mild enthusiasm among black voters and that this $25 million that Talarico promised he was going to spend over a month ago has yet to start to flow,” she continued.
“The investments aren’t there yet. And then you couple that with the fact that Elon Musk said he’s going to spend nearly $200 million on these races, and Texas is a huge target for that. And you’ve got a problem with black voters in Texas: you’ve got 34% of black men voting for Donald Trump. So if you’re going to wait until Labor Day to start campaigning with black voters, you’re playing to lose.”
Etienne’s warning follows that of Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who fell short in the March 3, 2026, Senate primary to Talarico, 52.4% to 46.2%. The lame duck congresswoman similarly questioned whether black voters are energized by his candidacy.
“I personally don’t feel like the excitement necessarily exists within the black community right now, like I don’t feel like they’re excited, right?” Crockett said on Friday’s episode of the “Front Page” podcast.
