Crockett suggests she won’t campaign with Talarico, will focus ‘down ballot’

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) said she will focus on “campaigning down ballot” in Texas, suggesting that she won’t campaign with Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico after he defeated her in the party’s primary.

“We’ve seen the turnout that you can produce. Talarico might very well need that magnetism. Will you campaign with him?” CNN’s Laura Coates asked the congresswoman on Thursday.

“I will be campaigning down ballot,” Crockett said.

“Because when we’re looking at a state like Texas, we’ve tried this, where we’ve got one amazing candidate that’s running at the top of the ticket,” Crockett said, when asked why she drew the distinction.

She pointed to Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who came within a few points of ousting Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2018, as an example of a top-of-ticket candidate who was “raising all the money, doing all the things, running around the entire state, but it’s not enough.”

“And so for me, I think that making sure that people that maybe are getting overshadowed because it seems like it’s only about one big race, I think amplifying them, making sure that I can raise their profiles and introducing them to people, that’ll give something more to voters.”

Crockett, whose last-minute decision to enter the race for Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) seat roiled the Texas political landscape, lost the Democratic primary to Talarico this spring. The popular congresswoman, known for her viral moments in the House, pledged to support his bid — but she’s since kept her distance from Talarico’s campaign.

In May, she announced plans to launch a leadership PAC to help other candidates, called FIRE, which stands for Fuel Individual Rights Everywhere. All five Texas candidates backed by her PAC won their primary runoffs later that month.

Among them was a proxy win over Talarico: former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), endorsed by Crockett , won the Democratic nod for a Dallas-area House seat over Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas), who was supported by Talarico .

The wins were a signal of Crockett’s political strength after her loss to Talarico assured her House tenure will end in January.

Meanwhile, Talarico faces Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) in a toss-up race. Republicans have long dominated the Lone Star State, but Democrats are optimistic that Talarico could notch the party’s first statewide win in decades.

Decision Desk HQ considers the race a toss-up, but it forecasts that Talarico is narrowly favored to win over Paxton, whose bid has been dogged by scandal .

Pressed by CNN’s Laura Coates on whether it’s an “either-or” choice between campaigning for the top of the ticket or down the ballot, Crockett said that for her, “it probably is.” She said she’s being pulled all across her “really big state” with FIRE PAC , and there are candidates she “didn’t get to do anything for” while running her Senate race.