The News
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, isn’t masking his excitement that Rep. Jasmine Crockett is in the race for Texas’ Democratic Senate nomination and former Rep. Colin Allred is out.
“Am I hiding my glee? I’ll try to wipe the smile off my face, I would say it’s a gift,” Cornyn told Semafor of the switcheroo. “Colin — obviously, he wasn’t successful before, but he was what I would call closer to a normal Democrat than Jasmine. [She] is something else.”
The veteran GOP senator — who must win his own tough primary — is preparing for Crockett to be the nominee over state Rep. James Talarico.
But Democrats say not so fast: “This race has a long way to go. Still bullish on Democrats,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a former party campaign chair. “I don’t think Republicans should be popping their champagne bottles yet.”
Know More
Van Hollen said he did not yet have a preference in the primary but will be watching it “very closely.” Indeed, the Texas primary sits alongside states like Michigan and Maine in importance in terms of picking up the majority. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., the current Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair, said she isn’t commenting on the last-minute primary movements.
Some Democrats wouldn’t have minded seeing Allred give it another go with the wind at his back, though.
“He was a really strong candidate for us last time, it was just a really tough year that he was running in. I think this is going to be a good year,” said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., a former party chair who recruited Allred last cycle.
Peters said he feels “good about Talarico, he’s really been catching on. He’s got a lot of support as well. So we would have had two good candidates … had [Allred] run, he would have been incredibly competitive in the primary and would have a shot at winning if he won the primary.”
Peters said he wasn’t quite familiar with Crockett’s campaign but that she’ll “obviously be competitive in the primary.” Cornyn and other Republicans — even his opponents — think Crockett will easily win the primary and be easier to beat in a general election.
But Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Republicans should be careful about rooting too hard for Crockett.
“They also thought the new mayor of New York was good for them, too, because he was going to be a communist. The next thing you know, Donald Trump is at his desk with the mayor standing next to him,” Durbin said.