Populist crusade and anti-Maga outrage as Texas Democrats do battle in Senate primary
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<p>James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett adopt contrasting strategies as party hopes to tap into Trump backlash in reliably red state</p><p>At a packed town hall meeting last month in Laredo for James Talarico, the 36-year-old Democrat vying for a US Senate seat in Texas, Cristina Rodriguez took the microphone. Rodriguez, a 16-year Marine Corps veteran, said she had never cast a ballot. She didn’t identify as either a Democrat nor a Republican, and to her it didn’t matter. Regard
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Populist crusade and anti-Maga outrage as Texas Democrats do battle in Senate primary James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett adopt contrasting strategies as party hopes to tap into Trump backlash in reliably red state A t a packed town hall meeting last month in Laredo for James Talarico, the 36-year-old Democrat vying for a US Senate seat in Texas, Cristina Rodriguez took the microphone. Rodriguez, a 16-year Marine Corps veteran, said she had never cast a ballot. She didn’t identify as either a Democrat nor a Republican, and to her it didn’t matter. Regardless of what party the president belonged to, she had to obey orders. Her attitude changed after the re-election of Donald Trump , whom she viewed as spiteful and divisive. In Talarico, a state representative from the Austin suburb of Round Rock, she found the exact opposite – a former middle school teacher and current seminary student who speaks in measured tones and preaches mutual respect. “Because of you, I decided my voice does matter,” Rodriguez told the candidate and the crowd. “You’re not spewing hate. You’re speaking truths in a compassionate way and that just resonates with me.” Rodriguez’s conversion offered a trickle of vindication for Talarico’s strategy. In a reliably red state where Democrats haven’t won a US Senate seat since 1988, Talarico believes his “top v bottom” economic pitch can cut across political divides and sway a critical mass of disillusioned Trump voters and independents. His rocketing path into the national spotlight suggests he might be on to something. Whether the New Testament-quoting Democrat can win in a state that voted by 14 percentage points for a presidential candidate whose campaign hawked God Bless the USA bibles for $59.99 will depend on whether Talarico can first beat Jasmine Crockett, currently the congresswoman for Texas’s 30th district. Beloved by Democrats craving a “fighter”, the 44-year-old former public defender has built a reputation as a sharp, partisan brawler wh...
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