Crockett says she’s helping Talarico: ‘I’ve endorsed him 100 times’

Rep. Jasmine Crockett insisted she is supporting fellow Texas Democrat James Talarico in his ongoing Senate bid, arguing her down ballot focus will ultimately help him.

“I’ve endorsed him 100 times,” Crockett said during a stop in Houston on the first day of early voting Monday, the Houston Chronicle reported .

Talarico, who defeated Crockett in the Texas Democratic primary, is now facing off against state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) for a seat in the Senate. In August, when asked if she would campaign with Talarico, Crockett told CNN she would focus on “ campaigning down ballot ” instead.

On Monday, Crockett doubled down on her down ballot agenda, according to the Chronicle, saying during the campaign event “the top of the ticket is going to benefit” from her efforts to boost turnout for Democrats in local races, such as Letitia Plummer’s and Alisa Simmons’s county judge bids.

In May, the Democratic lawmaker launched the “Fuel Individual Rights Everywhere,” or FIRE, leadership political action committee. Later that month, all five Texas candidates backed by her PAC won their respective primary runoffs.

The Washington Post reported last month that Talarico was not among the 14 candidates Crockett’s PAC had endorsed. Its latest list of endorsements , which has over 50 candidates, still does not include Talarico.

When faced with criticism over Talarico’s absence from the list, Crockett reposted her concession to Talarico on social platform X .

“Y’all are corny! I keep receipts. I’ll be happy when people either give a damn about FACTS or news media goes back to the news instead of deciding to ride the tabloid lane. NOW FOR THE 1000th time maybe write an article about KEN F*in PAXTON. Y’all all sound like corny groupie a– OPS!” she wrote on X last month.

Three recent polls released last week showed Talarico narrowly leading Paxton two weeks ahead of Election Day. No Democrat has won statewide Texas election since 1994.