Progressive Virginia State Delegate Sam Rasoul will form an exploratory committee for Congress. Rasoul lives in Roanoke, which is currently in the solidly red sixth district but may be moved to a more Democratic district pending VA’s redistricting efforts:
I love Crockett, but Paxton or Cornyn would demolish her in the general. Talarico doesn't have that kind of oppo TX GOP could weaponize in the election.
I have lost a lot of my respect for Crockett, I believe as many on X do that she wants to run for President and will leverage the 2026 blue wave close margins for that end. Atleast Beto believed and still believes in what he says.
I think Crockett would have a fighting chance in TX if it had a large plurality of Black metro voters like in Atlanta or Baltimore. She has to win over moderates and some squishy Rs who hate Cornyn/Paxton.
Could you elaborate? What do you think she has said that she doesn't actually believe in, and on what basis have you concluded that she's being insincere?
The only Mayoralty in the country that has anywhere near as high a national profile as a bomb-throwing congressperson was elected last month and takes office on New Year's Day.
She's uniquely uninterested in policy, terrible to her staff and wholly self-interested only in her own vain promotion. Some of the worst combined excess of an uncaring political caricature if you could make one.
I'm with you. I don't think she's a good statewide candidate and am thankful that she'll likely get smoked in the primary, but I'm not sure I buy all the hate here either...
I am not in favor of a partisan back and forth campaigning between Crockett and Talarico. We need a real TX-SEN race, not something that's distracted from negative campaigning too much.
DFW area went from 3 to 2 safe districts. Rep. Veasey is probably running in the 30th while Rep. Crockett is running for Senate. That leaves only the 33rd.
I wonder what polling numbers Talarico was pulling to precipitate Allred the 2024 nominee abandoning a race with a year and a half head start to create his campaign ground organization. Like you don’t do this unless you know you’re toast in the primary already, which is crazy considering how little time Talarico has had in the race.
Some politicians don't want to settle for such small jobs in their minds and also it's hard to win in Texas even in a potential blue wave so he probably doesn't want another loss on his record.
So, he wants to avoid Betofication? Texas's LG office has much more powers in the legislature compared to other states with Dan Patrick at very low approvals and hated by the Rogan crowd.
There was a meeting back in like June of Castro, O'Rourke, Allred, and Talarico go create a well funded slate for LG, AG, Gov, and Sen - beto wanted to run for sen w allred for governor, talarico for LG and Castro for AG, but seemingly everyone thought they would be the best candidate for senate. Crockett apparently asked Allred to switch to governor recently but he'd already endorsed Ortiz-Jones. Its a huge wasted opportunity. Honestly its a shame those guys didnt invite Crockett, I dont think she would be the best candidate but its partially how this situation came about.
Right, agree. It probably would have been good to keep the whole federal delegation appraised rather than this pure backroom politics, which does come off as arrogant to those on the outside and could have helped with in-out pressure on forming such a slate. Crockett was not at all interested in a run, so it makes sense she wasn't in the insider talks, and I buy they considered reaching out to her for AG but it was "news to [her]" because obviously she would lose that too and the point of a slate is for everyone to be strong enough to win.
Crockett has said she was encouraged to run after GOP and Democratic pollsters began including her in surveys—surveys she consistently led. She’s gained substantial popularity on YouTube and among liberal Boomers on Facebook. It’s not really anyone’s fault other than Crockett.
Allred may have endorsed Hinojosa, but it doesn’t change much—he could still frame his decision as doing what’s best for the team. The reality is that he and other Texas Democrats have been reluctant to challenge Abbott. Hell, Talarico had been saying for years—according to reports—that his dream was to become governor.
Per the weekend thread should we get there Democrats can run a write in campaign but would have to organize it and rally around the top Dem vote getter in the primary.
After Henry Cuellar filed for reelection to Congress as a Democrat, Donald Trump, who had pardoned Cuellar and his wife for serious corruption charges, lashed out at his "lack of loyalty." Trump slammed Cuellar for “continuing to work with the same Radical Left Scum that just weeks before wanted him and his wife to spend the rest of their lives in Prison - And probably still do!” Cuellar reaffirmed his identity as a Democrat, albeit one who supports Trump more often than some Republicans do. The pardon deprived the Republican candidate for Cuellar's seat, Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina, of a major campaign issue.
What was Trump expecting? Cuellar to register as a Republican and kiss his ass for eternity?
Doesn’t work that way Mr. Trump. You just made it easier for Democrats to keep a House seat and for the party to win back control over the House. You KNEW what you were doing dumbass.
Separating from the TX-Sen discussion in the other thread, is Allred going to sweep back into office or does Johnson still have a chance to keep the seat?
Don't know. Both of them are somewhat similar ideologically, but Johnson iirc is slightly further right. I'd give it to Allred based on the fact he already held most of the district for 3 terms.
in June, Beto O'Rourke, Allred, Talarico & Joaquin Castro met to try to engineer a full slate Dem ticket in Texas.
It didn't work. And they didn't invite Jasmine Crockett then b/c even she wasn't thinking of running.
Now she's asked Allred to drop out.
"According to two people familiar with the meeting, O’Rourke wanted to run for Senate again, and Talarico told people for years he wanted to run for governor. So O’Rourke wanted Allred to run for attorney general and Castro for lieutenant governor"
We need some Latino politicians to endorse Talarico.
AOC was said to have moved a lot of votes in California Prop 50 referendum with her ads according to David Shor's Blue Rose Research postmortem for Newsom but her endorsement will be toxic in Texas.
Curious what people think about TX-35. In the current map it's the district that connects Austin to San Antonio that Greg Casar represents. It was redrawn to be much more compact and consist of southern San Antonio, and the southeastern suburbs and exurbs. It includes all of Guadalupe, Wilson, and Karnes counties. If I recall correctly, Lloyd Doggett wanted Casar to run here but he declined (understandably so given he lives in Austin).h
The district has a VAP that's 53.7% Hispanic and 34.6% white, and according to (unofficial) calculations on Wikipedia it has a PVI score of R+4 -- less than districts like the 15th or 23rd, and comparable to districts like the 28th and 34th. It voted for Trump 54.6% to 44.2%, and Cruz 50.6% to 46.8%. Seems like a place where Dems could do well next year.
Just hearing you describe that district and how it links Austin and San Antonio together trying to pack together their populations sounds disgusting, even for gerrymandering. Reminds me of how in Louisiana large portions of Baton Rouge were moved to LA 6th and connected to New Orleans. But this is even more egregious given how much larger both Austin and San Antonio each are. We really need to start demanding electoral reform that includes national fair redistricting. No more milquetoast moderates that just pussyfoot around these problems pretending they don't exist.
I mean, no, it doesn't beat out ideology every time. There are so many counterexamples to that. I mean, look at who Black politicians and people supported in the Democratic presidential primaries in South Carolina in 2020, for one notable example, or the Black skepticism about Obama until after he had won the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.
That's essential, given the choices. He has to prove his stuff now. Did the scandal about his activity on Only Fans or whatever completely vanish, with no possibility of hurting him?
That, and the fact that he’s a (conventionally attractive) single dude in his thirties and not a married father of three in his fifties or whatever does make a difference
I’m not mad about it. Texas was always going to be nearly impossible to win, it was the reddest of the 2026 senate “reach” states (Ohio, Iowa, Alaska, Texas) in 2024. She says she can expand the electorate, maybe she can. I like Talarico too, so I’d be fine with either of them as the nominee. Because the chance of winning is so small to begin with, I don’t see much of a difference between them. People are treating Talarico like he’s the Mary Peltola of Texas which is not accurate.
If he's generating excitement and getting visibility, that's already more than a good start. Name recognition is half the battle in elections and it's how you get your profile and platform out.
Texas' electorate is not the same as Iowa or Ohio at all. Texas was the second closest state in 2020 after Florida and it moved away due to the precise groups that we lost and regained the most support from – the youth, Latinos and Asians. The polling gains have not been equally distributed between all demographics in 2025.
So you’re saying Texas has the potential to swing more than Iowa in 2026? I hope you’re right. Iowa is a lot more secular than Texas and gave dems some wins in the last trump midterm. And the gains with Latinos in New Jersey may not translate to Texas Latinos.
I was talking about the generic ballot, Trump approvals as well as NJ, Virginia. Yes but even Iowa may also surprise us with the right nominees. We’ve seen rural White people swinging a bit more than usual in NY and Iowa has a rural economic crisis too.
This is an interesting debate and I'd be curious to see some actual math on it, but I suspect Texas is more dem-friendly than Iowa, based on demographics. It's not just better for us on race, but it's also more urban and has a (slightly) higher percentage of residents with a bachelors degree. It's also (except for 2024) been generally moving towards us for a while, while Iowa has been zooming the other way. Long story short, I think our mid-to-long-term prognosis is better in TX than in IA.
Just putting my marker out there right now: Any Democrat approved by Joe Rogan is going to be competitive in their race. We scoff at his right wing podcast, but he does have a large following and voice that gets heard by people who are trained to not like Democrats because woke. Don’t underestimate what prime time on the Joe Rogan podcast can do for Talarico as a frequent guest.
We may not know for sure if he’s the next Mary Peltola, but that’s a very key sign that he just might and maybe even probably will (overperform the Democratic base line) whether he wins or loses.
Seems to me like it could potentially go either way. If Talarico can win the primary without moving to the left and Crockett then endorses him, it could help. If he has to move left or if Crockett wins, it will hurt.
I think Talarico would have more than enough money for the general in any case.
Its not really an ideological battle. She'll do well in Dallas and Houston, he'll do well everywhere else. It will be close. His saving grace is austin can really turn.out to vote
Based on his Reddit account, Platner voted for Bernie Sanders twice, volunteered for progressive congressional candidates, supported Elizabeth Warren until her misogynist accusation against Sanders, and characterized his stance as "radically anti-Hillary." He was active on liberal gun-owner forums, trained people through the Socialist Rifle Association, was a member of the DSA, and advocated for Maine to diversify its economy. He characterized combat as both the best, for its thrill and camaraderie, and the worst, because it squandered lives, both American and Iraqi, and enriched corporations. He called The Majority Report with Sam Seder and Michael Brooks as a huge influence on his politics.
If Platner wins, will he be the second socialist in Senate history?
Let's not forget his work for Blackwater during and after the war, his casual racism as a bartender, and his knowledge of the significance of his tattoo. He is a shill capitalizing off of a growing progressive movement, not a socialist.
I dont support Janet Mills, but I certainly wouldn't vote for him, either.
Hillary Clinton was the most admired woman in the country for several years. But, anyway, Platner is pretty clearly a pos but he could absolutely be the next Senator from Maine, given that the average voter is also a pos.
Except in the positive sense that if they're local, they might be able to bring some on-the-ground knowledge to bear. But totally agreed, not like this.
Progressive Virginia State Delegate Sam Rasoul will form an exploratory committee for Congress. Rasoul lives in Roanoke, which is currently in the solidly red sixth district but may be moved to a more Democratic district pending VA’s redistricting efforts:
https://cardinalnews.org/2025/12/08/rasoul-to-explore-run-for-congress-as-virginia-eyes-redrawing-district-lines/
Colorado State Sen. Julie Gonzales of Denver will challenge Hickenlooper from the left:
https://x.com/SenadoraJulie/status/1998001252186378476
Will she have to resign to run? I believe this might just be a ploy to raise her name recognition for a future run.
Colorado does not have a resign-to-run law.
and her re-election is in which cycle?
Next year, she's term-limited.
Ahh so that's the reason.
That could be the impetus, sure, but is she a good speaker and campaigner?
Colin Allred has dropped out of the race for Senate and will challenge incumbent Rep. Julie Johnson in the redrawn Tx-33:
https://x.com/ColinAllredTX/status/1998015894878830941
So the TX-SEN primary race will be Crockett v. Talarico. A healthy primary is good!
He needs to demolish her to have enough funds for the general...
I love Crockett, but Paxton or Cornyn would demolish her in the general. Talarico doesn't have that kind of oppo TX GOP could weaponize in the election.
I have lost a lot of my respect for Crockett, I believe as many on X do that she wants to run for President and will leverage the 2026 blue wave close margins for that end. Atleast Beto believed and still believes in what he says.
I’ve never seen Crockett mentioned as a member of “the squad.” Where have you seen that?
Crockett is pro-establishment. She is not Squad in her own words.
I think Crockett would have a fighting chance in TX if it had a large plurality of Black metro voters like in Atlanta or Baltimore. She has to win over moderates and some squishy Rs who hate Cornyn/Paxton.
Paxton/Hunt. Cornyn is winning easily. His RINO perception helps him in the general.
She'll lose by double digits even to Paxton.
Texas has the largest black population in the United States.
Could you elaborate? What do you think she has said that she doesn't actually believe in, and on what basis have you concluded that she's being insincere?
She says that she doesn't need to win over Republicans to win Texas. How can I seriously believe that?
She should run for Mayor of Dallas, a job with no duties and a high profile, which is all she wants.
The only Mayoralty in the country that has anywhere near as high a national profile as a bomb-throwing congressperson was elected last month and takes office on New Year's Day.
NY is a real job, Crockett doesn't want that.
I don’t get all your rather nasty insinuations against Jasmine Crocket. Maybe I missed something, but I fail to see how she has deserved them.
(For the record, I too would strongly prefer Crocket not run for Senate.)
She's uniquely uninterested in policy, terrible to her staff and wholly self-interested only in her own vain promotion. Some of the worst combined excess of an uncaring political caricature if you could make one.
I'm with you. I don't think she's a good statewide candidate and am thankful that she'll likely get smoked in the primary, but I'm not sure I buy all the hate here either...
No, it's not. It wastes resources in a must-win reach state. Crockett cannot win statewide. Talarico has a slim fighting chance.
I am not in favor of a partisan back and forth campaigning between Crockett and Talarico. We need a real TX-SEN race, not something that's distracted from negative campaigning too much.
Talarico or bust, then. And "bust" is just what Crockett would be in a statewide general election. Let's be real here.
Talarico wouldn't be favoured either, but would have at least a puncher's chance especially given how the national environment is shaping up.
Is there another district that Johnson can feasibly run in?
DFW area went from 3 to 2 safe districts. Rep. Veasey is probably running in the 30th while Rep. Crockett is running for Senate. That leaves only the 33rd.
Crockett would have won the primary against any of these Dems.
What is Allred even going to run on to distinguish himself from Johnson? They’re pretty ideologically similar.
He brought in a lot of investments for various projects through his career in the House and may be well liked.
Why doesn't Allred run for Governor? We might actually have an outside shot at winning that race with him as our candidate.
What's his thinking here? Is he doing this with the hopes of helping Crockett or helping Talarico?
My guess is the latter
Crockett reportedly asked him to drop out. So black support could consolidate.
That's what's supposedly reported but it doesn't make sense -- they aren't ideologically aligned at all, and he must know she can't win statewide.
Yeah that's what I was thinking.....Allred might have been trying to help her consolidate black support. What a mess!
No its the other way round. His black support was going to Crockett totally in hypothetical 3 way polling.
Helping himself lol.
I wonder what polling numbers Talarico was pulling to precipitate Allred the 2024 nominee abandoning a race with a year and a half head start to create his campaign ground organization. Like you don’t do this unless you know you’re toast in the primary already, which is crazy considering how little time Talarico has had in the race.
Why didn't Allred run for LG or AG? Any guesses or inside info?
Some politicians don't want to settle for such small jobs in their minds and also it's hard to win in Texas even in a potential blue wave so he probably doesn't want another loss on his record.
So, he wants to avoid Betofication? Texas's LG office has much more powers in the legislature compared to other states with Dan Patrick at very low approvals and hated by the Rogan crowd.
What are the reasons for the Rogan crowd turning hard on Patrick?
Patrick taking hard right stances on Christianity in classrooms, weed bans and other stuff.
There was a meeting back in like June of Castro, O'Rourke, Allred, and Talarico go create a well funded slate for LG, AG, Gov, and Sen - beto wanted to run for sen w allred for governor, talarico for LG and Castro for AG, but seemingly everyone thought they would be the best candidate for senate. Crockett apparently asked Allred to switch to governor recently but he'd already endorsed Ortiz-Jones. Its a huge wasted opportunity. Honestly its a shame those guys didnt invite Crockett, I dont think she would be the best candidate but its partially how this situation came about.
She has zero polls saying she can win the general, so it is her fault.
I meant not the group's fault.
Right, agree. It probably would have been good to keep the whole federal delegation appraised rather than this pure backroom politics, which does come off as arrogant to those on the outside and could have helped with in-out pressure on forming such a slate. Crockett was not at all interested in a run, so it makes sense she wasn't in the insider talks, and I buy they considered reaching out to her for AG but it was "news to [her]" because obviously she would lose that too and the point of a slate is for everyone to be strong enough to win.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/07/politics/jasmine-crockett-texas-senate
Crockett has said she was encouraged to run after GOP and Democratic pollsters began including her in surveys—surveys she consistently led. She’s gained substantial popularity on YouTube and among liberal Boomers on Facebook. It’s not really anyone’s fault other than Crockett.
Allred may have endorsed Hinojosa, but it doesn’t change much—he could still frame his decision as doing what’s best for the team. The reality is that he and other Texas Democrats have been reluctant to challenge Abbott. Hell, Talarico had been saying for years—according to reports—that his dream was to become governor.
Gina Rodriguez is running for governor, Ortiz-Jones is the new mayor of San Antonnio.
Were both wrong its hinojosa
oops lol
He can't use all the federal campaign funds he's raised in a state race and would have to completely start over all fundraising.
The $4.2 Million Question
How much of Bill White's federal war chest could be used in a race for governor? Most of it.
Nope, not true.
https://www.texastribune.org/2009/11/24/white-can-transfer-federal-campaign-money/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Allred is going to run for the House in TX-33 against Dem. Julie Johnson. I wish he at least would have run statewide--preferably for AG.
I think it's super cute that a Repugnican actually thinks he has a chance of being governor of California.
He does if republicans end up 1-2 in the primary.
And there’s pretty much no chance of that happening.
People really need to stop worrying about this. It's not gonna happen.
I hope no-one has to say "I told you so" if it does happen. The fact that it's remotely possible is a problem.
Per the weekend thread should we get there Democrats can run a write in campaign but would have to organize it and rally around the top Dem vote getter in the primary.
Pleased to be an annual subscriber, keep writing the good write!
Thank you, glad to have you!
After Henry Cuellar filed for reelection to Congress as a Democrat, Donald Trump, who had pardoned Cuellar and his wife for serious corruption charges, lashed out at his "lack of loyalty." Trump slammed Cuellar for “continuing to work with the same Radical Left Scum that just weeks before wanted him and his wife to spend the rest of their lives in Prison - And probably still do!” Cuellar reaffirmed his identity as a Democrat, albeit one who supports Trump more often than some Republicans do. The pardon deprived the Republican candidate for Cuellar's seat, Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina, of a major campaign issue.
Trump thought he was playing 4D chess and got absolutely bodied lol, what a chump
Sorry, but Trump doesn’t even have the strategic acumen to play a third-grader to a draw in Tic-Tac-Toe.
Has Trump ever even played chess?
If so, was it real chess or computer chess?
Any chance Trump could still revoke the pardon or hamstring Cuellar some other way?
He could instruct the DOJ to find irregularities in his mortgage.
Ha! True! I'm sure Lindsey Halligan is about to file the paperwork for a follow-up indictment before the end of the day.
What was Trump expecting? Cuellar to register as a Republican and kiss his ass for eternity?
Doesn’t work that way Mr. Trump. You just made it easier for Democrats to keep a House seat and for the party to win back control over the House. You KNEW what you were doing dumbass.
Hahahahahaha
Separating from the TX-Sen discussion in the other thread, is Allred going to sweep back into office or does Johnson still have a chance to keep the seat?
Don't know. Both of them are somewhat similar ideologically, but Johnson iirc is slightly further right. I'd give it to Allred based on the fact he already held most of the district for 3 terms.
in June, Beto O'Rourke, Allred, Talarico & Joaquin Castro met to try to engineer a full slate Dem ticket in Texas.
It didn't work. And they didn't invite Jasmine Crockett then b/c even she wasn't thinking of running.
Now she's asked Allred to drop out.
"According to two people familiar with the meeting, O’Rourke wanted to run for Senate again, and Talarico told people for years he wanted to run for governor. So O’Rourke wanted Allred to run for attorney general and Castro for lieutenant governor"
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/07/politics/jasmine-crockett-texas-senate
What a clusterfuck
If you're running for Senate and they're running for governor, then who's driving the car??
Adam Carlson
@admcrlsn
Here’s a (fairly realistic) hypothetical scenario — with higher Black turnout relative to 2024 — that results in a tie:
— Crockett dominates among Black voters
— Talarico handily wins white voters
— Latinos split 50-50
Really underscores how pivotal Latinos are going to be.
https://x.com/admcrlsn/status/1998075787811950938
We need some Latino politicians to endorse Talarico.
AOC was said to have moved a lot of votes in California Prop 50 referendum with her ads according to David Shor's Blue Rose Research postmortem for Newsom but her endorsement will be toxic in Texas.
Do Latino voters not vote on identity at all, such that they couldn't be expected to tilt at all toward Talarico, who's one of their own?
Talarico is Italian.
Oh, I was faked out. Thanks. I thought I had read remarks about him as a Latino politician...
I don't understand why we can't find a moderate rodeo-attending Latino to run statewide i.e. not the Castro brothers.
TX-10, TX-Comptroller:
https://thetexan.news/elections/2026/state-sen-sarah-eckhardt-switches-2026-run-from-congress-to-texas-comptroller/article_e5fb69be-3e9e-414e-a031-85a644691e10.html
State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt switched from the former to the latter.
She was probably waiting for Allred's final decision.
Howard County, MD Executive: Delegate Jessica Feldmark is dropping out of the race, citing a recent cancer diagnosis, and instead running for re-election to the House of Delegates. https://www.facebook.com/JessicaFeldmarkforHowardCounty/posts/pfbid036N3zNbPZh6FzMcVUmNCAktgbizYn9djAq5VcpG3wwYdq5YcJ5nbGFitFxE7TcXKFl
Curious what people think about TX-35. In the current map it's the district that connects Austin to San Antonio that Greg Casar represents. It was redrawn to be much more compact and consist of southern San Antonio, and the southeastern suburbs and exurbs. It includes all of Guadalupe, Wilson, and Karnes counties. If I recall correctly, Lloyd Doggett wanted Casar to run here but he declined (understandably so given he lives in Austin).h
The district has a VAP that's 53.7% Hispanic and 34.6% white, and according to (unofficial) calculations on Wikipedia it has a PVI score of R+4 -- less than districts like the 15th or 23rd, and comparable to districts like the 28th and 34th. It voted for Trump 54.6% to 44.2%, and Cruz 50.6% to 46.8%. Seems like a place where Dems could do well next year.
Just hearing you describe that district and how it links Austin and San Antonio together trying to pack together their populations sounds disgusting, even for gerrymandering. Reminds me of how in Louisiana large portions of Baton Rouge were moved to LA 6th and connected to New Orleans. But this is even more egregious given how much larger both Austin and San Antonio each are. We really need to start demanding electoral reform that includes national fair redistricting. No more milquetoast moderates that just pussyfoot around these problems pretending they don't exist.
Colin Allred on Inside Politics today saying he is dropping out for his "friend" Jasmine Crockett because he wants to avoid a runoff.
He also indicated an endorsement of Crockett is forthcoming and also indicated he wants Talarico out.
Race beats out ideology every time, even in the Democratic Party. Smfh.
I mean, no, it doesn't beat out ideology every time. There are so many counterexamples to that. I mean, look at who Black politicians and people supported in the Democratic presidential primaries in South Carolina in 2020, for one notable example, or the Black skepticism about Obama until after he had won the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.
I will voting Talirico if he stays in the race. His issue now is name recognition, if he can get that up he stands a chance
Crockett in for TX-Sen
https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/jasmine-crockett-texas-senate-democratic-primary/
Will this be a boon or a bane, do we think?
Not good for Democratic chance of winning the seat.
Agreed. But there's always a chance Talarico wins the primary
That's essential, given the choices. He has to prove his stuff now. Did the scandal about his activity on Only Fans or whatever completely vanish, with no possibility of hurting him?
I think he had a pretty good explanation - he followed back anyone that endorsed him
That, and the fact that he’s a (conventionally attractive) single dude in his thirties and not a married father of three in his fifties or whatever does make a difference
Bane.
I’m not mad about it. Texas was always going to be nearly impossible to win, it was the reddest of the 2026 senate “reach” states (Ohio, Iowa, Alaska, Texas) in 2024. She says she can expand the electorate, maybe she can. I like Talarico too, so I’d be fine with either of them as the nominee. Because the chance of winning is so small to begin with, I don’t see much of a difference between them. People are treating Talarico like he’s the Mary Peltola of Texas which is not accurate.
We don't know if he can be Peltola - he hasn't run statewide until now. The primary in March will be our first guess on his performance.
Exactly. He’s unproven. Which is fine, but people act like he’s already a Peltola level candidate.
If he's generating excitement and getting visibility, that's already more than a good start. Name recognition is half the battle in elections and it's how you get your profile and platform out.
Texas' electorate is not the same as Iowa or Ohio at all. Texas was the second closest state in 2020 after Florida and it moved away due to the precise groups that we lost and regained the most support from – the youth, Latinos and Asians. The polling gains have not been equally distributed between all demographics in 2025.
So you’re saying Texas has the potential to swing more than Iowa in 2026? I hope you’re right. Iowa is a lot more secular than Texas and gave dems some wins in the last trump midterm. And the gains with Latinos in New Jersey may not translate to Texas Latinos.
I was talking about the generic ballot, Trump approvals as well as NJ, Virginia. Yes but even Iowa may also surprise us with the right nominees. We’ve seen rural White people swinging a bit more than usual in NY and Iowa has a rural economic crisis too.
This is an interesting debate and I'd be curious to see some actual math on it, but I suspect Texas is more dem-friendly than Iowa, based on demographics. It's not just better for us on race, but it's also more urban and has a (slightly) higher percentage of residents with a bachelors degree. It's also (except for 2024) been generally moving towards us for a while, while Iowa has been zooming the other way. Long story short, I think our mid-to-long-term prognosis is better in TX than in IA.
Just putting my marker out there right now: Any Democrat approved by Joe Rogan is going to be competitive in their race. We scoff at his right wing podcast, but he does have a large following and voice that gets heard by people who are trained to not like Democrats because woke. Don’t underestimate what prime time on the Joe Rogan podcast can do for Talarico as a frequent guest.
We may not know for sure if he’s the next Mary Peltola, but that’s a very key sign that he just might and maybe even probably will (overperform the Democratic base line) whether he wins or loses.
Seems to me like it could potentially go either way. If Talarico can win the primary without moving to the left and Crockett then endorses him, it could help. If he has to move left or if Crockett wins, it will hurt.
I think Talarico would have more than enough money for the general in any case.
Its not really an ideological battle. She'll do well in Dallas and Houston, he'll do well everywhere else. It will be close. His saving grace is austin can really turn.out to vote
Austin and the Rogan clan in particular will help.
Thise Rogain bros will be voting in the repug primary i would guess
Eh, maybe. Or maybe not.
Bane, I think. Maybe this video clip is appropriate here:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RcmwMWk2vwE&pp=ygURYmFuZSBoYXJsZXkgcXVpbm4%3D
A truly hellish comedy of errors.....potentially our equivalent of tossing aside Michael Castle for Christine O'Donnell.
https://search.pullpush.io/?author=p-hustle&type=comment&q=Communist&sort_type=created_utc&sort=desc
Based on his Reddit account, Platner voted for Bernie Sanders twice, volunteered for progressive congressional candidates, supported Elizabeth Warren until her misogynist accusation against Sanders, and characterized his stance as "radically anti-Hillary." He was active on liberal gun-owner forums, trained people through the Socialist Rifle Association, was a member of the DSA, and advocated for Maine to diversify its economy. He characterized combat as both the best, for its thrill and camaraderie, and the worst, because it squandered lives, both American and Iraqi, and enriched corporations. He called The Majority Report with Sam Seder and Michael Brooks as a huge influence on his politics.
If Platner wins, will he be the second socialist in Senate history?
Let's not forget his work for Blackwater during and after the war, his casual racism as a bartender, and his knowledge of the significance of his tattoo. He is a shill capitalizing off of a growing progressive movement, not a socialist.
I dont support Janet Mills, but I certainly wouldn't vote for him, either.
So a potential Fetterman?
doubt it!
Sure, you would have said that about Fetterman, gun owner and anti-hillary, it's possible.
you could also say that about me? it's not exactly like hillary is a popular person
She won by 3.5 million votes or so, didn't she?
Hillary Clinton was the most admired woman in the country for several years. But, anyway, Platner is pretty clearly a pos but he could absolutely be the next Senator from Maine, given that the average voter is also a pos.
That comparison could be made, but Platner's past being clouded in controversy further solidifies my uneasiness when it comes to supporting him.
are you from maine? do you have relatives in maine? would you vote for susan collins over platner?
No
And my opinion doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but I was just expressing it given the topic
Don't do this. We discuss elections and electoral projections here. Whether someone is from a particular state or district is totally irrelevant.
Except in the positive sense that if they're local, they might be able to bring some on-the-ground knowledge to bear. But totally agreed, not like this.