The Texas Senate Primary Was a Preview of Creator Wars to Come
📖 Full Retelling
After the 2024 election, influencers were seen as an asset. A contentious race between Democrats James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett showed that they can also be a liability.
Entity Intersection Graph
No entity connections available yet for this article.
Original Source
Makena Kelly Politics Mar 4, 2026 11:26 AM The Texas Senate Primary Was a Preview of Creator Wars to Come After the 2024 election, influencers were seen as an asset. A contentious race between Democrats James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett showed that they can also be a liability. Photograph: Jordan Vonderhaar/ Getty Images Save this story Save this story On Tuesday, James Talarico , On Tuesday, James Talarico , a 36-year-old Presbyterian seminarian and state representative from Austin, Texas, defeated congresswoman Jasmine Crockett in what has become one of the most closely watched primary races so far this year. While both candidates boast immense social media followings—Talarico with 1.6 million followers and Crockett with 2.6 million followers on TikTok—it wasn’t just the candidates who drove the conversation. It was the creators around them , who offer a preview of the digital fights to come throughout the midterms and, ultimately, the 2028 presidential race. The Talarico and Crockett campaigns ran distinctly different digital strategies. Crockett has built her congressional brand on confrontation, going massively viral last year after calling out Marjorie Taylor Greene for having a “bleach-blonde, bad-built, butch body” and telling Elon Musk to “fuck off. ” Talarico’s digital presence reads more like a populist sermon delivered over his own social media accounts. He’s carried these preachings to unconventional platforms, like the Joe Rogan Experience , that rewarded him with countless viral clips. But for the most part, the incendiary aspects of the digital-focused campaigns came from outside the candidates. In January, the hosts of “Las Culturistas,” a pop-culture and comedy podcast, set off a firestorm of criticism after discouraging listeners from supporting Crockett in an episode of the show. “Don’t waste your money sending to Jasmine Crockett, do not do it,” Matt Rogers, one of the hosts said at the time. The show faced immediate backlash from members of i...
Read full article at source