Rep. Jasmine Crockett Weighs Possible Texas Senate Run, But Says Focus Remains On Redistricting Fight
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, the North Texas Democratic firebrand, hinted in a recent interview with KHOU-11 that amid speculation that she could consider a run for U.S. Senate, she will only run if there is data that she could be competitive in a statewide Senate race.
“If there is a general (vs. primary) poll that came out that said that I could be competitive that would be something that I would have to consider. The fact that I represent 1/38th of the state, it is daunting to think that I could be competitive statewide. But if I could, only representing 1/38th of the state and having never run statewide before, it’s something I’d have to take a long, hard look at,” Rep. Crockett said.
Despite this ambition, her attention and focus remains squarely focused on the redistricting fight her Democratic colleagues in Texas are engaging in with Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Republicans in the House who are determined to do the bidding of Donald Trump and help him pick up five additional seats in the House of Representatives.
Per her comments, Rep. Crockett believes that the Texas Democrats have already won because they’ve been able to shape the view of the public during their fight against the gerrymandering of the Republican Party in general and of the Republican Party in Texas in specific.
“I don’t know how many people I’ve come across, whether it’s been in real life or via social media, that have said ‘I didn’t realize Texas was a majority-minority state. I didn’t realize that this is what gerrymandering looked like.’ The fact that there’s at least one state that is already saying, ‘if y’all want to play this game, we will match your energy.’ That is fantastic,” she told the outlet.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Rep. Crockett has been busy, as she alluded to in her statement, she stayed in Texas in order to rally support for the quorum break by holding rallies.
During one such rally at Oak Cliff’s Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, she indicated that the Texas Democrats were not going to roll over.
“What many don’t know is that we are Texas tough,” she told the crowd. “So what that means is that we are ready to fight back!”
After the rally, she spoke to the Dallas Morning News, “I travel the country all the time, doing my best to make sure that we’re injecting energy all throughout this country. It’s time for me to make sure that I’m doing the hard work on the ground in Texas. Some people may not care when they know that the whole point was the Republicans wanted to kick me out of my district,“ Crockett said. “They may say, ‘No we’re keeping our congresswoman even though you don’t want her to be mine.’”
Though the Texas Democrats are expected to return to their home state on Aug. 18, the action by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to present a “trigger map,” that is, a redistricting map favoring Democrats, that is set to go into effect only if Texas Republicans vote to create a Republican friendly election map, provided some relief for the Democrats from Texas who broke quorum.
On Aug. 16, Congressman Greg Casar, an Austin Democrat, praised the Democrats who left at a rally held at the Texas Capitol building.
“If Trump and Abbott had their way, they would’ve passed these maps weeks ago,” Casar told the crowd. “Trump doesn’t have a plan to win the election, he has a plan to rig the election.”
Beto O’Rourke, a former U.S. Rep who also might be considering a Texas Senate run, contextualized the actions of Republicans ahead of the midterm elections as a reflection of their fear. He also indicated that the vote could function as a check on the power that Republicans currently hold.
“If they cannot maintain their purchase on power in the [U.S.] House of Representatives, then there will be a check on their lawlessness, accountability for their crimes and corruption,” O’Rourke said.
RELATED CONTENT: Black People Driving Texas Growth. Redistricting Will Stop Representation, PAC Leader Says