{"id":1405072,"date":"2026-02-06T13:14:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/?p=1405072&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=1405072"},"modified":"2026-02-06T13:17:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:17:00","slug":"us-election-2026-texas-senate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/06\/us-election-2026-texas-senate\/","title":{"rendered":"Her jabs go viral. He\u2019s known to quote the Bible. How social media is shaping a Texas Senate race"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By JOHN HANNA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/texas-senate-race-colin-allred-jasmine-crockett-5849d3ca44a733ce016300070788eec3\">Jasmine Crockett\u2019s<\/a> most-watched TikTok clip is a five-second interview outside the U.S. Capitol. Someone asks the Democratic congresswoman from Texas what she would tell billionaire Elon Musk, and Crockett replies with a vulgar, two-word phrase. It\u2019s been viewed 20.7 million times.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related left\"><h2 class=\"widget-title\" data-curated-ids=\"\" data-relation-type=\"automatic-primary-section\">Related Articles<\/h2><ul><li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/08\/housing-costs-are-crippling-many-americans-heres-how-the-two-parties-propose-to-fix-that\/\" title=\"Housing costs are crippling many Americans. Here\u2019s how the two parties propose to fix that\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\">\n\t\t\tHousing costs are crippling many Americans. Here\u2019s how the two parties propose to fix that\t\t<\/span>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n<\/li><li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/07\/vaccine-court-overhaul\/\" title=\"Her son\u2019s injury never got its day in vaccine court. Their lawyer is now advising RFK Jr. on its overhaul\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\">\n\t\t\tHer son\u2019s injury never got its day in vaccine court. Their lawyer is now advising RFK Jr. on its overhaul\t\t<\/span>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n<\/li><li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/06\/border-family-separation\/\" title=\"Judge orders Trump administration to bring back 3 families deported to Honduras, other countries\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\">\n\t\t\tJudge orders Trump administration to bring back 3 families deported to Honduras, other countries\t\t<\/span>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n<\/li><li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/06\/epstein-house-unredacted-files\/\" title=\"Justice Department will allow lawmakers to see unredacted versions of released Epstein files\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\">\n\t\t\tJustice Department will allow lawmakers to see unredacted versions of released Epstein files\t\t<\/span>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n<\/li><li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/06\/us-social-service-funds\/\" title=\"Feds can\u2019t withhold social service funds from 5 Democratic states amid fraud claims, judge rules\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\">\n\t\t\tFeds can\u2019t withhold social service funds from 5 Democratic states amid fraud claims, judge rules\t\t<\/span>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n<\/li><\/ul><\/aside>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/james-talarico-cornyn-paxton-us-senate-texas-1826fe4d6aa162f0bdb8059c58987aa9\">James Talarico\u2019s<\/a> top TikTok video is 88 seconds from a speech in which the Texas state representative says billionaires, not minorities, are destroying America, adding that \u201cthe biggest division in our politics is not left versus right, it\u2019s top versus bottom.\u201d It\u2019s been watched 15.5 million times.<\/p>\n<p>The two are facing off in the party\u2019s U.S. Senate primary March 3, showcasing divergent approaches to harvesting a modern politician\u2019s most precious resource \u2014 attention.<\/p>\n<p>Crockett feuds with President Donald Trump and other Republicans. Talarico calls himself a policy wonk and quotes the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>Whomever Democrats nominate will say a lot about what they see as their best strategy for breaking the Republican hold on the state and helping their long-shot effort to recapture the Senate majority.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think their voting records would be identical, but their style of politics is very different, which is fascinating to watch,\u201d said Allison Campolo, Democratic Party chair for Fort Worth\u2019s home county.<\/p>\n<p>Social media has pitfalls, though. A TikTok influencer posted this week that Talarico referred to former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Texas, the Democrats\u2019 unsuccessful 2024 Senate nominee, as \u201cmediocre,\u201d creating a tempest. Talarico is white; the influencer, Allred and Crockett are Black.<\/p>\n<p>Talarico put out a statement calling it a \u201cmischaracterization\u201d of a private conversation.<\/p>\n<h4>Democrats are bullish again about their chances<\/h4>\n<p>Democrats haven\u2019t won a Senate race in Texas since 1988, but they see an opening this year. <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/texas-senate-republicans-cornyn-paxton-hunt-01f1ffaf8a890e3017af407abe502e8f\">Republicans might not renominate<\/a> four-term Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/john-cornyn\">John Cornyn<\/a> and might opt for state Attorney General <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ken-paxton-texas-senate-john-cornyn-60c34efe45143422c5f9ff84d27c1be1\">Ken Paxton<\/a>, who\u2019s popular with Trump\u2019s base but has also spent most of his career under legal troubles. Rep. Wesley Hunt also is seeking the GOP nomination.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats\u2019 success in elections since Trump began his second term \u2014 including <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/texas-state-senate-democrat-taylor-rehmet-c8cb6685c49696b8a607a8f93111ae2e\">a special election<\/a> for the Texas state Senate last month \u2014 has buoyed the party\u2019s hopes that, after decades of losses in statewide races, this may be their year.<\/p>\n<p>Crockett, 44, a former public defender and civil-rights attorney, served two years in the Texas House before winning her congressional seat in the Dallas area in 2022. Her supporters see her as the candidate better able to excite voters of color, who\u2019ve been a key part of the Democratic base.<\/p>\n<p>Talarico, 36, is training to be a Presbyterian minister. A former middle school teacher, he first won his Austin-area legislative seat in 2018. His backers believe the discussion of his Christian faith could win over a wider swath of voters this fall.<\/p>\n<p>Both are adept at creating digital moments \u2014 and followings.<\/p>\n<h4>Viral moments<\/h4>\n<p>Crockett has 2.2 million TikTok followers, giving her one of the largest reaches on the platform among members of Congress. By comparison, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has 4.1 million followers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1405074\"  class=\"wp-caption aligncenter size-article_inline\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_80327.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"Primary candidate for U.S. Senate, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, participates in a debate with Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich\/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)\" width=\"5616\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_80327.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1\" data-attachment-id=\"1405074\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_80327.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 620w,https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_80327.jpg?fit=780%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 780w,https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_80327.jpg?fit=810%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 810w,https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_80327.jpg?fit=1280%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 1280w,https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_80327.jpg?fit=1860%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 1860w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Primary candidate for U.S. Senate, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, participates in a debate with Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich\/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Crockett\u2019s most popular posts include audio of Trump insulting her as she remains expressionless until flashing a smile at the end, in a video her campaign posted with the hashtag #TexasTough. Another clip, viewed 2 million times, is her simply lip-syncing to the 1990s rock hit \u201cWhat\u2019s Up?\u201d by 4 Non Blondes along with a Democratic candidate in Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>But clips from combative exchanges in Congress are what accelerated Crockett\u2019s ascent into one of the party\u2019s rising young stars. In one May 2024 clash with then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican suggested during a hearing that Crockett\u2019s \u201cfake eyelashes\u201d got in the way of reading legislation. Crockett snaps back with her own put-down, suggesting that Greene had a \u201cbleach-blonde, bad-built butch body.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Crockett has said her training as a trial lawyer allows her to answer Republicans in the moment, but her remarks that take off on social media have also brought blowback. After a video of her calling Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, \u201cGovernor Hot Wheels\u201d went viral, Crockett responded by saying she was referring to Abbott using transportation <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/migrants-new-york-adams-abbott-colombia-58d423ab3e84e5692d50f773803254ee\">to send migrants<\/a> from Texas to U.S. cities.<\/p>\n<p>Crockett acknowledged during <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/jasmine-crockett-talarico-texas-senate-debate-cornyn-45f0cc709b8c38d884e07d1b05bf1e54\">her only debate<\/a> so far with Talarico that she is \u201cnot about politics as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that I will do the edgy things, the things that the political consultants will never tell you to do,\u201d Crockett said.<\/p>\n<h4>Sit-down with Joe Rogan<\/h4>\n<p>Talarico, who has 1.5 million TikTok followers, said Democrats cannot win the Texas seat \u201cwith the same old politics of division.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1405075\"  class=\"wp-caption aligncenter size-article_inline\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_12301.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"U.S. Senate primary candidate, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, participates in a debate with Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich\/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)\" width=\"5463\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_12301.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1\" data-attachment-id=\"1405075\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_12301.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 620w,https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_12301.jpg?fit=780%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 780w,https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_12301.jpg?fit=810%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 810w,https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_12301.jpg?fit=1280%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 1280w,https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_12301.jpg?fit=1860%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 1860w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. Senate primary candidate, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, participates in a debate with Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich\/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On social media, Talarico leans into his background as a seminarian. Clips show him asking pointed questions in legislative debates, opposing school vouchers or a requirement that teachers <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ten-commandments-texas-schools-f16713552035212c4c5430e988dfcf82\">post the Ten Commandments<\/a> in their classrooms. In one video, Talarico notes lawmakers are working on the Sabbath to pass the Ten Commandments bill, a violation of one of those commandments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe they should try following the Ten Commandments before mandating them,\u201d he wrote alongside the post.<\/p>\n<p>Talarico regularly talks about Jesus\u2019 command for people to love others as they love themselves. He\u2019s done long podcast interviews, including with Joe Rogan, the popular podcaster who endorsed Trump in 2024 after the Republican sat down for an interview. Rogan told Talarico near the end of their 2 1\/2-hour podcast last summer that he should run for president.<\/p>\n<h4>Digital strategies get attention \u2014 and help fundraise<\/h4>\n<p>Platforms like X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok also help candidates raise money and test messaging.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can communicate as often as you want at the times that you prefer and you can vary the format,\u201d said Pinar Yildirim, an associate professor of marketing and economics at the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Wharton School of Business.<\/p>\n<p>Candidates tie social media content to online ads to test which messages most effectively bring potential supporters to their websites, said Jennifer Stromer-Galley, a professor of information studies at Syracuse University.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow they can do it in much more fine-grained, real-time ways,\u201d said Stromer-Galley, who wrote a book on the history of presidential candidates\u2019 online campaign efforts.<\/p>\n<p>Social media also bridges the distance between Senate candidates and the national donor base they need to tap, said Mike Doyle, the Democratic chair for Austin\u2019s home county.<\/p>\n<p>Crockett raised about $642,000 during the first week of her campaign and has collected $6.5 million so far, most of it carried over from her House account. Talarico raised more than $1.2 million in his campaign\u2019s first week, on his way to more than $13 million in contributions so far.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be on the ground to see Jasmine or James on social media,\u201d Doyle said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The two are facing off in the party\u2019s U.S. Senate primary March 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":1405073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7867,22,27],"tags":[7601],"feature":[],"location":[],"type-of-work":[7197],"coauthors":[799],"class_list":["post-1405072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-politics","category-news","category-politics","tag-network","type-of-work-news"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"7867","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":"","print_workflow_exported_ts":"","print_workflow_exported_username":"","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":"","really_short_title":"","short_title":"","syndication_source":{"canonical":"https:\/\/www.twincities.com\/2026\/02\/06\/us-election-2026-texas-senate","id":"cG9zdDoyNDQ5NDgw","siteName":"Sharing Dash","syndicationSourceStack":[{"canonical":"https:\/\/www.twincities.com\/2026\/02\/06\/us-election-2026-texas-senate","id":"cG9zdDoyNDQ5NDgw","siteName":"Sharing Dash","sourceUrl":"https:\/\/sharingdash.medianewsgroup.com"}],"source_url":"https:\/\/sharingdash.medianewsgroup.com"},"market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":1405073,"title":"US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_53012","filename":"US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_53012.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_53012.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/06\/us-election-2026-texas-senate\/attachment\/1405073\/","alt":"","author":"14","description":"","caption":"Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, left, shakes hands with Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, prior a debate during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich\/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)\n","name":"1405073","status":"inherit","uploadedTo":1405072,"date":1770401833000,"modified":1770401837000,"menuOrder":0,"mime":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","dateFormatted":"February 6, 2026","nonces":{"update":false,"delete":false,"edit":false},"editLink":false,"meta":false,"authorName":"gqlshare","authorLink":"","uploadedToTitle":"Her jabs go viral. He\u2019s known to quote the Bible. How social media is shaping a Texas Senate race","uploadedToLink":null,"filesizeInBytes":1537324,"filesizeHumanReadable":"1 MB","context":"","height":3068,"width":4601,"orientation":"landscape","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"height":"150","width":"150","url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_53012.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","orientation":"landscape"},"medium":{"height":200,"width":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_53012.jpg?w=300","orientation":"landscape"},"large":{"height":683,"width":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_53012.jpg?w=1024","orientation":"landscape"},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_53012.jpg","height":3068,"width":4601,"orientation":"landscape"}},"custom_caption":""},"data":[{"id":1405073,"title":"US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_53012","filename":"US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_53012.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/US_Election_2026_Senate_Texas_Democrats_53012.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/06\/us-election-2026-texas-senate\/attachment\/1405073\/","alt":"","author":"14","description":"","caption":"Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, left, shakes hands with Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, prior a debate during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich\/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)\n","name":"1405073","status":"inherit","uploadedTo":1405072,"date":1770401833000,"modified":1770401837000,"menuOrder":0,"mime":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","dateFormatted":"February 6, 2026","nonces":{"update":false,"delete":false,"edit":false},"editLink":false,"meta":false,"authorName":"gqlshare","authorLink":"","uploadedToTitle":"Her jabs go viral. He\u2019s known to quote the Bible. 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