Far-left Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D., Texas), who has carved out a reputation as one of her party's most controversial voices, filed Monday to run for Senate.
"There are a lot of people that [sic] said, 'You gotta stay in the House, we need our voice, we need you there.' And I understand. But what we need is for me to have a bigger voice," Crockett said in an announcement speech Monday night.
Crockett filed the paperwork to run in Texas's Democratic primary, hours ahead of the state's deadline and her campaign launch, CBS News reported. She has publicly floated a run for months, telling radio host Lurie Daniel Favors in October that she would throw her hat in the ring if she could "expand the electorate" in deep-red Texas.
Crockett has long attracted controversy. After the murder of Charlie Kirk, she called Kirk a racist and lamented that only "two Caucasians" in Congress voted against a resolution honoring him. She also called Texas governor Greg Abbott (R.), who is handicapped and uses a wheelchair, "Governor Hot Wheels" and attacked Florida Republican Byron Donalds's interracial marriage.
The congresswoman was hit with an ethics complaint last month after the Washington Free Beacon reported that she had concealed owning stock in at least 25 companies from her congressional financial disclosures. Those stocks include her holdings in marijuana firms, which stand to benefit from legislation she cosponsored to decriminalize the drug.
She also faced widespread criticism for smearing congressional Republicans, saying they had taken money from Jeffrey Epstein. In reality, the lawmakers accepted donations from people who share the same name as the convicted sex trafficker. Crockett refused to back down in light of criticism, telling CNN's Kaitlan Collins that she "never said that it was that Jeffrey Epstein."
Both Democratic and Republican consultants expressed uncertainty that Crockett could win statewide, even as incumbent Republican senator John Cornyn faces his own primary fight against state attorney general Ken Paxton.
Matt Angle, the director of a Democratic PAC, told CBS News that Crockett could energize Republican turnout against her, while Republican strategist Vinny Minchillo said she is "too extreme and too far-left for even Texas Democrats."
Crockett faces difficult odds of winning in Texas, a solidly red state that voted three times for President Donald Trump. In the October interview with Favors, she trumpeted polling that "makes it clear that I can win the primary for the U.S. Senate race in Texas" but said in a discussion of the general election that she does not "really believe in traditional polling."
Crockett's upcoming announcement prompted another Democratic Texas Senate hopeful, failed 2024 candidate Colin Allred, to drop out of the race. Allred announced the move on Monday, just hours before Crockett is set to announce her run.
Allred told CNN's Dana Bash that Crockett's plans are "of course" one reason he exited the race, saying that "going through a bruising primary … was not in the best interest of the state or the party."
Crockett will face off against state representative James Talarico in the primary.
