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In the blockbuster Senate race in Texas, where the combustible GOP primary has been grabbing most of the headlines, it’s the Democratic showdown that’s now being swept up in a political firestorm.
State Rep. James Talarico, one of the two major Democrats running for their party’s nomination in the red-leaning state, was accused over the weekend by an influencer of calling his former rival a “mediocre Black man.”
Talarico later responded by saying the claim was a “mischaracterization of a private conversation.”
The accusation comes with just one month to go until primary day in Texas, with Talarico facing off against Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a progressive firebrand and rising Democratic Party star with a large social media following who is known as a vocal critic of President Donald Trump.
Morgan Thompson, the influencer who goes by the username @morga_tt on TikTok, in a social media post on Sunday accused Talarico of saying in a private conversation with her last month that he had “signed up to run against a mediocre Black man, not a formidable, intelligent, Black woman.”
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Talarico was allegedly referring to former Rep. Colin Allred, the 2024 Democratic Senate nominee who was making a second straight run this cycle until ending his campaign just before Crockett announced her candidacy. Both Allred and Crockett are Black, and Talarico is White.
Pushing back against Thompson’s characterization of their conversation, Talarico said in a statement, “In my praise of Congresswoman Crockett, I described Congressman Allred’s method of campaigning as mediocre — but his life and service are not. I would never attack him on the basis of race.”
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Allred, responding in a social media video on Monday, said: “James, if you want to compliment Black women, just do it. Just do it. Don’t do it while also tearing down a Black man.”
After dropping his Senate campaign, Allred is now running for Congress in the state’s 33rd District against Rep. Julie Johnson, a fellow Democrat.
Allred, a former college football star who went on to play professionally in the NFL, and later became a civil rights lawyer, said he would be endorsing Crockett after initially staying neutral.
Crockett said in a statement that Allred “drew a line in the sand.”
“He made it clear that he did not take allegations of an attack on him as simply another day in the neighborhood, but more importantly, his post wasn’t about himself,” she said. “It was a moment that he decided to stand for all people who have been targeted and talked about in a demeaning way as our country continues to be divided.”
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The fireworks, which have the potential to rock the Democratic primary race, come as the latest polling suggests a competitive primary between Talarico and Crockett, with most Black voters supporting Crockett and a majority of white and Latino votes backing Talarico, former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian who is also seen as a rising Democrat.
But a veteran Texas-based Democratic consultant called the criticism of Talarico “entirely overblown.”
“I’ve seen a lot of hard-hitting attacks in Senate races around the country, but attacking a candidate for what might have been said about a past candidate is not one of them,” added the consultant, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely.
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But the allegations once again inject race into the Democratic primary, where some questions about Crockett’s electability statewide appear to be related to race.
Longtime Texas-based Republican strategist Brendan Steinhauser told Fox News Digital the episode is “not great” for Talarico.
“I think this dustup doesn’t really help him,” Steinhauser argued. “I think it makes him lose some of the momentum he’s had in the past few weeks.”
Up until now, most of the political crossfire has been in the Republican primary, where longtime GOP Sen. John Cornyn is being challenged by Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton and by Rep. Wesley Hunt.
Unlike the Democratic primary, where Crockett and Talarico are the only major candidates, the three-way Republican race may be headed towards a May runoff, which would be triggered if no candidate tops 50% in the March primary.
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