Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) is “strongly” considering running for Senate, she said on Wednesday, raising the prospect of adding yet another marquee name to what is already a crowded Democratic primary.
Crockett cited the Republican-led remap of the state’s congressional districts earlier this year as a reason she might seek higher office in an interview on SiriusXM’s “The Lurie Daniel Favors Show.”
“I am looking,” she said. “Because if you want to take my seat of 766,000 away, I feel like there has to be some karma in that to where I take your seat that is for 30 million away.”
Crockett has emerged as a prominent — and sometimes profane — critic of President Donald Trump and Republicans since first winning election in 2022. She ran for her party’s top post on the House Oversight Committee in the summer, assailed Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s “bleach blonde, bad built, butch body” and drew criticism for referring to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, as “Governor Hot Wheels.”
It’s earned her both the attention and the ire of the president, who has sought to elevate her as a face of the Democratic Party.
“This is a low-IQ person who I can’t even believe is a Congressperson,” he said at the Oval Office in September.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee has also sought to goad her into joining the Senate race, believing she is a weak candidate, by commissioning a poll over the summer that showed her leading a hypothetical Senate primary.
The two leading candidates in the race are former Rep. Colin Allred, who lost last year to Sen. Ted Cruz and boasts significant name recognition; and state Rep. James Talarico, who announced his run in early September and is also attracting interest from donors and party powerbrokers both in and outside Texas.
Republicans, too, are in for a long and expensive primary, with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt challenging longtime Sen. John Cornyn. Each has sought Trump’s endorsement.
But the two-term lawmaker insisted her decision will ultimately come down to an in-depth look at her chances in a general election — not the primary.
“The question will be whether or not we believe that we’ve got enough juice to expand the electorate and looking at those cross tabs and looking at which demographics are more inclined to come out, who normally do not vote,” she said. If we can expand the electorate, then I will strongly be considering hopping in the Senate race.”
