As the clock ticked late into election night, it was still unclear who would win the U.S. Senate race. That’s because voting results from two counties across the state – Dallas and Williamson – were delayed following mass confusion about where to vote, the result of the Republican Party in both counties refusing to agree to countywide voting sites on election day and instead mandating voters attend polls in their precinct. Amidst the chaos, judges ordered polls to stay open late to accommodate voters, only for the Texas Supreme Court, on Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request, to temporarily block the Dallas County order; votes from individuals who were not in line by 7pm were separated and marked as provisional.
Both candidates – Texas House Rep. James Talarico and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett – issued statements expressing distress over the polling location confusion – and both left their watch parties Tuesday night without a victor decided. Talarico was leading by thousands of votes when he decided to pack it in around midnight. By 2am, his campaign declared victory in the race.
Following the kerfuffle in the counties, Crockett left her own watch party stating that “people had been disenfranchised.” However, on Wednesday morning, she conceded to Talarico, saying that the party now needs to come together and focus on November. “Texas is primed to turn blue and we must remain united because this is bigger than any one person,” she said in a statement.
On Tuesday night, several hundred supporters of Talarico gathered at Austin music venue Emo’s to watch election returns. Before leaving his event, Talarico addressed the crowd, thanking them for staying late and, without yet proclaiming victory, said that he was confident in what his campaign has built.
“This movement is about whether the people will hold the power in this state and in this country. … This is a people-powered movement to take on this broken, corrupt political system. This is truly a campaign of, by, and for the people,” Talarico said.
Throughout the campaign, his mantra has been that this is a battle not of left versus right, but rather of top versus bottom, with his mind set on putting an end to political corruption through eliminating corporate PAC donations, banning super PACs, banning members of Congress from trading stocks, and more. “We are not just trying to win an election. We are trying to fundamentally change our politics,” he told his supporters at Emo’s.
But it’s not going to be easy for Talarico. He has an uphill battle ahead of him in the general, whether that be against incumbent John Cornyn or A.G. Ken Paxton, who are heading to a runoff election in the Republican primary. Touting the message that his campaign built leading up to the primary, Talarico will look to gain votes from Republicans and independents who are either fed up with Paxton’s legal trouble or are looking for a shift from Cornyn, who has served as a state senator for over 20 years.
If Talarico succeeds, Texas will have its first Democratic U.S. senator in nearly 40 years – and at a time when Dems are desperate to regain ground in D.C. Addressing supporters Tuesday night, Talarico said that voters across Texas had given the country a “little bit of hope” that flipping the Senate may be possible come November. “And a little bit of hope is a dangerous thing.”