It Appears Jasmine Crockett Just Fell for a Trap Set by the Republican Senatorial Committee
Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas has never exactly been known for statesmanship, let alone humility or intellectual discipline. But when your rise in politics is engineered by your opponents, you’d think even the most self-absorbed Democrat might pause before leaping into a Senate race.
Yet Crockett barreled ahead anyway — much to the quiet satisfaction of Republicans.
According to the nonprofit News of the United States (NOTUS), the National Republican Senatorial Committee spent months subtly boosting Crockett as a 2026 Senate contender, calculating that whichever Republican survives a fiercely competitive primary would make quick work of a candidate defined more by racial grievance politics and venom toward President Donald J. Trump than by any discernible legislative achievement.
The setup began last June, when prominent Texas Democrats — including Colin Allred and James Talarico — gathered to discuss a challenge for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Sen. John Cornyn. Early polling suggested both men could mount formidable campaigns.
Meanwhile, RealClear Polling showed Cornyn locked in a dead heat within his own party. The latest aggregate puts Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tied at 30 percent each, with Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt close behind at 21 percent. In other words, Republicans saw a likely bloodbath — and wanted no part of facing a strong Democrat on the other side.
So the NRSC conducted a Democratic primary poll in July that quietly included Crockett’s name. What they found confirmed every strategic instinct.
“When we saw the results, we were like, ‘OK, we got to disseminate this far and wide,’” a source told NOTUS.
Translation: Crockett’s brand of anti-Trump rage, identity-obsessed rhetoric, and cable-news-style theatrics resonates with the Democratic base. The NRSC recognized the gift — and capitalized on it.
The same source said Republicans then helped “orchestrate the pile on of these polling numbers to really drive that news cycle and that narrative that Jasmine Crockett was surging in Texas.”
But they didn’t stop at shaping the media environment. According to NOTUS, the operation became a months-long pressure campaign to push Crockett into the race.
“That was really a sustained effort that we orchestrated across the ecosystem for several months,” the source said. “Not only was it getting positive news coverage, but her office was directly having traffic driven to it in terms of phone calls urging her to run.”
And on Monday, the plan paid off: Crockett declared her Senate candidacy. Even better for Republicans, Allred abruptly dropped out the same day.
Having executed the political equivalent of a long con, Texas Republicans now face the appropriate question: What could possibly go wrong?
After all, Texas voters delivered President Donald Trump a massive 14-point victory over then-Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 — a margin of roughly 1.5 million votes. Yet just below that top line, Sen. Ted Cruz won reelection by only nine points against Allred, according to the Associated Press.
That disparity raises a strategic dilemma. Did voters simply like Allred more than Harris? If so, eliminating him from contention by artificially elevating Crockett was shrewd.
But there’s a darker possibility the GOP must consider: What if the real gap wasn’t between Harris and Allred — but between Trump and lower-ballot Republicans? What if the president’s massive turnout operation was the only thing carrying uninspiring GOP candidates across the finish line? And what happens in 2026 when Trump isn’t on the ballot?
The Republican plan still looks sound on paper. Crockett is one of the most divisive public figures in Congress, even among Democrats. But now Texas Republicans must actually win — because the alternative is allowing one of the most toxic, unserious lawmakers in Washington to represent a bright-red state in the U.S. Senate for six long years.