Harris Makes Her Pick in High-Stakes Texas Race

Kamala Harris just placed her biggest political bet since leaving office, throwing her support behind Rep. Jasmine Crockett in Texas' tight Democratic Senate primary. In a recorded message to Texas Democrats first reported by the Texas Tribune, the former vice president and POTUS contender urged Dems to back Crockett as "a fighter" with the record to challenge President Trump and "his billionaire cronies," pushing voters to turn out early or on Tuesday's primary day. The move reinforces a long-standing alliance: Crockett co-chaired Harris' 2024 presidential bid and gave a speech at the Democratic Party's convention. Per Politico, Crockett has previously noted that she asked Harris, once a US senator herself, for advice before deciding to run for Senate.

The endorsement sharpens the contrast in a race that Democrats see as a test of how, or if, they can finally crack statewide politics in Texas. Crockett is betting she can energize Black voters and inconsistent Democrats, per the New York Times. Her main Dem rival, state Rep. James Talarico, a white Presbyterian seminarian with strong online reach and more cash in his coffers, argues that the path runs through independents and disaffected Republicans wary of Trump. The winner will face one of three Republicans—Sen. John Cornyn, Attorney General Ken Paxton, or Rep. Wesley Hunt—depending on the outcome of a GOP primary that could head to a May runoff and still lacks Trump's blessing.