{"id":19623,"date":"2026-03-05T10:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T10:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/this-l-is-on-her-black-lawmakers-and-strategists-dump-on-crockett\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T10:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T10:47:09","slug":"this-l-is-on-her-black-lawmakers-and-strategists-dump-on-crockett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/this-l-is-on-her-black-lawmakers-and-strategists-dump-on-crockett\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This L is on her\u2019: Black lawmakers and strategists dump on Crockett"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Black Democratic strategists, lawmakers and activists are frustrated that Texas Democrats rejected Jasmine Crockett as their Senate nominee Tuesday night \u2014 but they also saw it coming.<\/p>\n

Following Crockett\u2019s single-digit loss<\/a>, they recounted a laundry list of why she fell to state Rep. James Talarico: Her campaign was unfocused; she had an insufficient campaign infrastructure to challenge Talarico, even though she earned the backing of former Vice President Kamala Harris. They also said her media strategy relied too heavily on social media rather than television ad buys \u2014 typically seen as critical in a sprawling state like Texas and its nearly two dozen media markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who don\u2019t understand politics will be upset because Jasmine was their hero,\u201d said Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones, a Democrat. \u201cBut for people who understand politics, [Crockett] literally had no ground game.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThis L is on her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taken together, Crockett\u2019s campaign shortcomings doomed the upstart Senate bid of the two-term congressmember who entered the contest with broad name recognition and hopes of showcasing her firebrand personality and penchant for viral moments to help Texas Democrats end their nearly 40-year winless streak in Senate races.<\/p>\n

Still, Black strategists and activists warn Crockett\u2019s loss will have ripple effects.<\/p>\n

They say the party rejected an established star in favor of an untested, white state lawmaker over style \u2014 the two candidates did not substantively disagree on policy \u2014 raising concerns that Black voters, especially women, will not turn out when the party needs them the most.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of Black women who work in the Democratic Party, vote for Democrats, organize for Democrats, have always had a sense of this,\u201d said Houston-based political strategist and social media influencer Tayhlor Coleman. \u201cIt is a lot more apparent now: A lot of people in the Democratic Party want our labor, they do not want our leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Crockett\u2019s campaign pushed back on the criticism of her campaign, saying it came from \u201cMonday morning quarterbacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the most expensive Democratic primary ever in Texas with the overwhelming majority of those dollars being spent on attacks against the Congresswoman,\u201d former deputy campaign manager Karrol Rimal said in a text message Wednesday afternoon. \u201cDespite being outspent, she held our own and excited an untapped base of support for Democrats with record numbers of first time primary voters. There was also the intentional voter suppression of voters in Dallas and Williamson counties. That can not be ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Crockett conceded, she tweeted her support<\/a> for Talarico, saying, \u201cDemocrats must rally around our nominees and win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats for years have praised Black women as the \u201cbackbone of the party.\u201d And Crockett, a former civil rights and criminal defense lawyer, rose to prominence in part by viral moments from House hearings. Just last month, she garnered praise from party insiders for her sharp criticism of Attorney General Pam Bondi during a House Judiciary hearing over the Justice Department\u2019s handling of Jeffrey Epstein documents.<\/p>\n

Heading into Tuesday’s primary election \u2014 the first of the 2026 midterm cycle \u2014 there was optimism Crockett could harness her star power to beat Talarico, a seminary student and former teacher who drew national attention when Texas Democrats fled the state to try to block a major redistricting effort.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Talarico also built his national name with a sitdown on the nation\u2019s top podcast, \u201cThe Joe Rogan Experience<\/a>” where the show\u2019s host urged him to run for president \u2014 weeks before he officially launched his Senate bid, and later turned an online interview<\/a> with the late night host Stephen Colbert into a fundraising boon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Throughout the primary, Crockett faced constant questions about her viability and campaign decisions, including whether she hired enough staff. She also faced criticism that the get-out-the-vote efforts were virtually nonexistent.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe ran a fucking terrible campaign that many will question if she’s running a campaign at all,\u201d said one Black national Democratic operative granted anonymity to give a candid assessment of Crockett\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n

Crockett staked much of her political campaign on her ability to connect with young voters and rebuked her party for trying to win Republicans instead of wooing hard-to-reach Democrats that have grown frustrated with the party. By contrast, Talarico was praised by many Democrats for the way he leaned into his seminarian background as a way to appeal to progressives, independents and disillusioned Republicans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many ways, she has been and has felt like a woman on an island,\u201d said Stefanie Brown James, co-founder of the Collective PAC, which works to elect Black candidates to local, state and federal offices.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though she has substance, not everybody likes her style,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd I think that sometimes her style is one that is not appealing, especially to the old guard Democrats, whose fighting style is antiquated and outdated.\u201d<\/p>\n

State and national Democrats acknowledged Talarico built a strong campaign that shored up grassroots support and built a statewide infrastructure long before Crockett entered the primary in December, just months before voters began casting their ballots. He was able to raise money quickly, establish a field and digital plan and craft a message that cast him as a fighter and someone who would bring down high costs.<\/p>\n

Some Democrats anticipate Talarico\u2019s victory is going to ignite a fresh round of uncomfortable conversations among insiders about the importance race, gender and identity politics will play in Democratic political circles moving forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way that we have seen people rally around new, more untested white male candidates\u201d is troubling, said Maya Rupert, a Democratic strategist who served as the campaign manager of Julian Castro\u2019s 2020 presidential campaign.<\/p>\n

While she is excited about Talarico\u2019s nomination against what she called \u201ca very weak Republican field,\u201d Rupert said Crockett\u2019s loss will continue to \u201csting\u201d for months to come, especially with few opportunities beyond Texas for Black women candidates to win in statewide contests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people who see this and see a very qualified, very popular Black woman \u2014 that, once again \u2014 feels like people fail to appreciate the strength of,\u201d Rupert adds. \u201cAnd that is a very dangerous position for the party to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Black Democratic strategists, lawmakers and activists are frustrated that Texas Democrats rejected Jasmine Crockett as their Senate nominee Tuesday night \u2014 but they also saw it coming. Following Crockett\u2019s single-digit loss, they recounted a laundry list of why she fell to state Rep. James Talarico: Her campaign was unfocused; she had an insufficient campaign infrastructure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}