State Representative James Talarico has gained momentum recently in his quest against Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
His interview with the Late Show’s Stephen Colbert went viral last week, and his campaign said as a result of the controversy, he raised $2.5 million in the 24-hour period following the interview. Ad Impact Politics reports advertising on his behalf has climbed to $21.5 million, compared to Crockett’s $4.5 million.
Campaigning in South Dallas County Wednesday afternoon, Talarico told CBS News Texas that despite all that, he remains an underdog. “Absolutely. We have been the underdog since day one because we’re going up against some of the biggest names in Texas politics in both parties. We’re going up against the political establishment in both parties. We’re going up against some very powerful interests who don’t want to see a people-powered campaign win in this state. We’re the only campaign not taking a dime of corporate PAC money, and this campaign is being run for the underdogs of the state. That’s the kind of campaign we want to continue to run all the way through the general.”
Talarico made the same statement earlier in the month before the Colbert interview. When asked about whether Talarico is an underdog in the race, Crockett told CBS News Texas late last week, “I will say getting a $2.5 million injection of cash on one day that doesn’t put you behind. That is for sure. That puts you in a good position, and having a super PAC that is spending, I don’t know at this point, $6 million against your opponent doesn’t feel like an underdog situation either.”
This week, Crockett and Talarico have made some of their last campaign stops in North Texas. On Wednesday afternoon, Talarico continued his bus tour across the state by stopping at the Sand Branch community in Seagoville. His campaign said that he and 55 of their volunteers donated 110 cases of bottled water for the 94 residents who don’t have permanent access to safe water and sewer infrastructure. From there, Talarico is set to rally supporters at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas.
On Thursday, he will meet with college students at the University of Texas at Dallas, in Richardson. As for Crockett, she made three campaign stops in Dallas and stopped in McKinney and Allen in Collin County on Monday. She went to Arlington Tuesday before heading to Central Texas and Houston.
A new poll released Wednesday by the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Politics Project shows Crockett leading Talarico by 12 percentage points, 56 to 44 percent. But the poll was taken between February 2 – 16, before the Colbert interview.
In response, the Talarico campaign released its internal poll showing that he jumped into the lead before the Colbert interview by four percentage points, 47% – 43%.
The Real Clear Politics average of polls between January 10th and February 16th shows Crockett with a 3-percentage-point lead over Talarico, 44.8% to 41.8%. Some Democrats have said they have struggled to make a decision because they like both candidates.
Various Texas Democrats have told CBS News Texas that they believe the race is very close and could go down to the wire on Election Night Tuesday.
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