After weeks of speculation, North Texas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett officially filed to run for the U.S. Senate Monday.
Crockett joins a crowded field with notable Texans on both sides of the aisle vying for the seat. She's facing state Rep. James Talarico of Austin in the Democratic primary. There was also speculation former Congressmen Beto O'Rourke and Joaquin Castro could throw their hats in the ring, but neither have filed ahead of Monday's 6 p.m. deadline.
She is no longer facing Democrat Colin Allred, who dropped out of the Senate race Monday to run for the newly drawn 33rd Congressional District. Allred said he wanted to avoid a democratic runoff. He is now facing his congressional successor, U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson.
Crockett may have an upper hand against her democratic colleagues: in recent polling from the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs, she received a plurality of support among likely voters in a hypothetical race against Talarico, Allred and O'Rourke. About half of poll respondents were not familiar with Castro.
On the GOP side, John Cornyn is hoping to keep his seat with a reelection bid but faces a tough opponent in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Houston-area state Rep. Wesley Hunt also submitted his paperwork to run in the Republican primary last month.
If Crockett is elected to the U.S. Senate, she'd be the first black woman to ever win a statewide office in Texas. But that's an uphill battle, as a Democrat hasn’t won a statewide contest since 1994.
It's not yet clear if Crockett will resign from her current seat in order to run and spur a race for her freshly vacated Dallas-area congressional seat.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Alexsis Jones is a reporter and producer for KERA News. Got a tip? Email Alexsis at ajones@kera.org.
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