The US Senate primaries in Texas have become the most fascinating election in America. On the Democratic side, the battle between Rep. Jasmine Crockett and State Rep. James Talarico was seen as a showdown between two younger Democrats with incredibly bright futures.
Crockett is running for the Democratic Senate nomination because her House district was flipped by Republicans, but the two candidates are running campaigns with vastly different styles.
Rep. Crockett entered the race late, so she has fewer campaign activities and is relying on her national exposure with Democrats to put her over the top in the primaries.
Talarico was less famous than Crockett, but he had built a very traditional campaign operation in Texas, and so the question for political scientists was whether fame would defeat traditional campaigns.
This question was turned on its head when the Trump administration, through FCC Chairman Brandon Carr, decided to get CBS to conduct a Stephen Colbert interview with Talarico.
If the intention was to stop Talarico, the decision was a disaster.
The interview has been viewed exponentially more online than Colbert’s show on television.
The high viewership has made Talarico an instant national star that both the Crockett campaign and Republicans are trying to neutralize.
The numbers for Talarico are dazzling.
Read more below.
