What Can the Texas Primary Tell Us About Democrats?

Summary

Radio Atlantic – “What Can the Texas Primary Tell Us About Democrats?”
Date: February 28, 2026
Host: Adam Harris (sitting in for Hanna Rosin)
Guest: Elaine Godfrey (Atlantic staff writer and Texas race reporter)

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Episode Overview

This episode of Radio Atlantic dives into the high-stakes 2026 Texas Senate Democratic primary, examining why it has captured national attention and what it reveals about broader shifts within the Democratic Party. Adam Harris and Elaine Godfrey discuss the two headline-grabbing candidates, Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico, differences in their campaigning styles, and how the electoral dynamics in Texas reflect larger tensions and desires within the party. The episode also spotlights the Republican primary and what it could mean for Democrats’ long-shot hopes in Texas.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why the Texas Primary is Getting National Attention

(00:41 - 03:36)

• Both Democratic candidates, Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico, are resonating with voters but in distinctly different ways.
  • Crockett: Outspoken, energetic, unafraid to take on Trump aggressively in public and on cable news. A "capital F Fighter." (00:50)
  • Talarico: More subdued, preacher-in-training, emphasizes unity and reaching across divides but still channels voter anger in his own style.
• Their approaches typify the current split in Democratic strategy: confrontational vs. conciliatory.
• Quote:

  “You have Jasmine Crockett…much sharper in her criticism of Trump, much more willing to throw insults, much more bombastic... You also have James Talarico... a little quieter. His approach is a lot more peace and love... They’re both fighting in different ways.” – Elaine Godfrey (02:04)

2. Reporter Ejection Incident

(03:43 - 06:25)

• Elaine Godfrey recounts being ejected from a Jasmine Crockett campaign event in Lubbock, TX.
  • After interviewing attendees, Godfrey was told to leave by Crockett’s staff, described as “a top notch hater and she will spin.”
  • Godfrey recorded the interaction; the campaign later denied the event occurred, with Crockett suggesting Godfrey had been sued for defamation (which is untrue).
• Illustrates rising hostility or wariness towards the press—even from Democratic campaigns.
• Quote/Interaction:

  “[Staffer reads from phone]: ‘Elaine from the Atlantic, a white girl in a baseball cap with a notepad. She’s a top notch hater and she will spin. She needs to leave.’ …Security guards surrounded me and escorted me out of the building.” – Elaine Godfrey (04:27)

3. Broader Trend: Democrats Embracing Confrontation?

(08:38 - 10:04)

• Crockett’s “fighter” persona, once more common among Republicans, is gaining traction with Democratic base—reflecting a shift from “when they go low, we go high” to a willingness to “play dirty” if it means winning.
• There is a growing tolerance for bombast, insults, and even questionable campaign practices among some on the left, paralleling Trump-era Republican tactics.
• Quote:

  “If we want to win, we might have to play dirty. So I do think the midterms are probably going to have a lot more of that than we’ve seen before.” – Elaine Godfrey (09:53)

4. Voters' Perspectives: Style Over Substance

(10:04 - 11:46)

• On the ground, both candidates have crossover appeal among Democratic voters. The choice isn’t so much about policy as it is style.
• Crockett backers want a candidate to “prosecute” Republicans, while Talarico supporters prize electability—his perceived ability to win over moderates and Republicans.
  • Democratic voters wrestling with the tension between nominating a fighter versus someone with broader appeal.
• Quote:

  “People who liked Crockett liked that she was gonna go out there and go after Trump... People who liked Talarico, they were kind of playing a little bit of 3D chess... thinking about electability. Democrats in Texas are really balancing this urge for a fighter with a desire to win.” – Elaine Godfrey (11:18)

5. The Republican Primary – A Potential Opportunity

(11:46 - 13:42)

• The GOP primary is just as tumultuous, with incumbent Senator John Cornyn challenged by Ken Paxton (Texas Attorney General, recent impeachment acquittal and scandals) and Wesley Hunt.
• Paxton’s scandal-plagued candidacy excites Democrats, as his weaknesses could open the door to a historic Democratic victory.
  • Talarico seen as the stronger general-election opponent due to higher favorability.
• This sets up a potential “Doug Jones vs. Roy Moore” scenario, suggesting a scandal-ridden Republican could make even deeply red Texas competitive for Democrats.
• Quote:

  “Democrats are really excited [about Paxton as the nominee]. Will make him so weak that a Democrat could finally win in Texas.” – Elaine Godfrey (12:37)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the styles of the Democratic candidates:

  “It’s such a perfect encapsulation of this moment. So it’s very exciting to watch.” – Elaine Godfrey (03:29)

• On being removed from the Crockett event:

  “I don’t think they were supposed to have read that message to me, but they did.” – Elaine Godfrey (05:11)

• On the shift in Democratic Party culture:

  “I think there is just a real increase in tolerance on the left... 'Look at the guy in the White House; he does that all the time. Why can't we? Why shouldn't we?'” – Elaine Godfrey (09:38)

• On the potential for a Texas Democratic win:

  “...what happens on the Republican side, that's really going to determine what the chances are for a Democrat to win statewide in Texas for the first time in like 30 years.” – Elaine Godfrey (13:29)

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Important Timestamps (MM:SS)

• 00:41 - Introduction to Texas Democratic primary dynamics
• 02:00 - Contrasting Crockett’s and Talarico’s approaches
• 03:43 - Godfrey’s account of being ejected from the Crockett event
• 05:46 - Campaign denial and follow-up
• 06:46 - Broader context of press relations at rallies
• 08:38 - Are Democrats embracing a more confrontational style?
• 10:04 - Voters discuss candidate styles and motivations
• 11:46 - Republican primary and opportunities for Democrats
• 13:37 - Comparison to Doug Jones/Roy Moore special election

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Tone & Closing Thoughts

The episode mixes sharp political analysis with personal, on-the-ground narrative, keeping a focus on the real-world implications and evolving political culture. The hosts highlight not just the candidates or the horserace, but also what the moment says about the Democratic Party’s soul—a battle between fierce confrontation and pragmatic coalition-building. The unpredictable Republican primary adds an extra layer of suspense, potentially setting up a rare opening for Democrats in Texas.

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Transcript

[A]

The Texas Senate primaries are drawing national headlines. You may have heard of the Democratic candidates. Representative Jasmine Crockett, who spat with Marjorie Taylor Greene in 2024, lit up social media.

[B]

If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody's bleach, blonde, bad built, butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities. Correct. A A what now?

[A]

Or James Tyrico, who was recently interviewed by Stephen Col. In an interview, Colbert said CBS tried to bar him from airing. I think that Donald Trump is worried that we're about to flip Texas. Both candidates would have a big hill to climb. No Democrat has won a statewide election in Texas since 1994. And promising candidates from Beto O' Rourke to Wendy Davis have tried and failed to change that fact. But people think Crockett or Talrico really could. And it's making them wonder, is this the year for a Democrat in Texas? This is Radio Atlantic, and I'm Adam Harris sitting in for Hanna Rosen. Atlantic staff writer Elaine Godfrey has been covering this Texas race and also following Representative Crockett. She profiled her last year. And then while Elaine was at a Crockett campaign event this week, this happened.

[B]

Okay, why are you asking me to leave? They just said Elaine from Atlantic, white girl with a hat and no cut. She's interviewing people in the crowd. She's a top notch hater and will spin. She needs to leave.

[A]

We'll get into that soon. Elaine, welcome to the show.

[B]

Adam, thank you for having me.

[A]

So the Texas Senate primary. Why has this race captured the national media attention? What's going on in the Texas primary?

[B]

I think what's made the Texas primary on the Democrats side so exciting is that both of the candidates are really popular. Voters are excited about them, both genuinely. And also the dynamic here is you have two fighters and Democrats have been saying they want fighters against Trump. And each of these candidates does so in a different way. So you have Jasmine Crockett, one of the Democrats. She's a congresswoman, two term congresswoman who is much sharper in her criticism of Trump, much more willing to throw insults, much more bombastic. She's on cable news all the time. She's in hearings, you know, blasting Trump and aggressively sort of questioning witnesses. And Democrats love this. They love to see, you know, a capital F fighter. You also have James Talarico, who is running against her, who is a state lawmaker in Texas. They used to be colleagues in the state legislature. He's also a preacher in training and he's a little quieter. His approach is a lot more peace and Love, we need to heal as a country. He talks a lot more about. Let's join hands with our Republican friends. Trump is made in the image of God, and we should be fighting against the top and the billionaires rather than each other. So they're both fighters and they're both sort of channeling Democratic rage and the rage of voters at this moment. But they're doing so in very interesting ways. And I think that that has just. I mean, it's such a perfect encapsulation of this moment. So it's very exciting to watch.

[A]

Yeah. And so you've been watching this for a while. You go to Texas to cover the race, and then what happens?

[B]

I go to Texas to cover the race. This is my first event. I show up on Monday morning to an event for Jasmine Crockett, and it's, you know, there's a line out the door. It's in Lubbock, Texas. It's in a rural area, an event center on a county road. I'm interviewing all of these people who have come to see Crockett. They're so excited. The vibes are really good. You know, I come in, I show my badge. They put me in the press section. I watched the whole rally. I was taking notes the whole time. It was the kind of rally that I think if you're a candidate, you want a reporter to be at, Right. Cause she looked great, she came off great. People loved it. Afterwards, they had a press availability for her. And there were only a few press there, most local. And I went over to join and her press person, after I identified myself, her press person, one of her press people said, it's already full. You can't go in there. I said, okay. So I went back to keep interviewing people who were lingering in the building. And then a different person came up to me and said, her team wants you to leave. And I said, why? And she said, because. She said, she read from her phone and she said, they're looking for Elaine from the Atlantic. A white girl in a baseball cap with a notepad. She's a top notch hater and she will spin. She needs to leave. I don't think they were supposed to have read that message to me, but they did. And then immediately, security guards surrounded me and escorted me out of the building through the parking lot to the edge of the county road, where I had to get an Uber.

[A]

And you recorded this whole interaction. And it's a good thing that you did record it, because after you published the article, the campaign denied it. They said that You. They didn't actually say that?

[B]

Yeah. First, a spokesperson for Crockett said that didn't happen. Then a CBS reporter was interviewing Crockett and asked about it. And Crockett said, there's no evidence that a reporter was ejected from my event. She also said the specific reporter in question has a reputation for not being truthful and has been sued for defamation successfully. She didn't say my name at any point, but it was pretty clear she was talking about me. I have since reached out to her and to her campaign multiple times to say, could you clarify what you meant? And I haven't heard anything back.

[A]

And for the record, have you been sued for defamation? Successful?

[B]

No, I have not. No, I haven't.

[A]

In thinking about being turned away from rallies, we've seen over the last several years instances of reporters being turned away at campaign events. Has something like this ever happened to you before?

[B]

Yeah, at Trump rallies, it's always been, but, you know, they've treated me better at Trump rallies when they do this. I would say this has only happened a couple times at Trump rallies where they've sort of said, you know, we don't have room for you, which is just. That's never true. But it's never, you're a top notch hater kind of thing. And so, yeah, it has happened. I would say the kicking reporters out of rallies. Trump's fans love that. A lot of Jasmine Crockett's fans seem to like that, too. They like the way that she sort of manhandles people. Right. The way that she says, you know what? I'm not putting up with that. I guess I should say that I wrote this profile of her last year that she didn't like and that she had tried to shut down because it was something that she thought was gonna be unflattering.

[A]

How did she try to shut it down?

[B]

So she called me four days before that profile of her was gonna be published, and she said, I heard you've been talking to members of Congress, my colleagues, her colleagues, without asking me, without my permission. She said, and so I will be revoking all permissions and shutting down the profile. That is obviously not how journalism works. So we published it. You can read [e-mail] I think it's pretty fair and good. I think she gave me tons of access for that story. She talked me a lot for it. I think it's pretty fair. And I think that was pretty surprising that she tried to shut it down. And even more surprising that now, you know, she Appears to be holding that against me to this day.

[A]

So you mentioned, right, that she's sort of no shrinking violet. Right. Like, this is a part of who she is as a politician. Right. It's a fighter. Capital F. Fighter. You put it in your piece. You said she doesn't wilt before the president, like cut hydrangeas. So is this right. Indicative of maybe a broader trend in the party? Right. We had the classic Michelle Obama, when they go low, we go high. Is this a way of sort of signaling that there's an end to that?

[B]

I think for some candidates, yeah. I think that there is an appetite among Democrats. I mean, Republicans have already blown past that benchmark. Right. Like, there is an appetite now for Democrats to do the same. And I don't know if it means we'll see more reporters getting thrown out of rallies, but specifically when it comes to swearing, insulting people, not being willing to correct the record if you make a mistake or if you accuse someone of defamation, of having been accused of defamation, I think there is just a real increase in tolerance on the left now for that because they're saying, well, look at the guy in the White House. He does that all the time. Why can't we? More importantly, why shouldn't we? If we want to win, we might have to play dirty. So I do think there's going to be. I think the midterms are probably going to have a lot more of that than we've seen before.

[A]

Yeah. So of course, you were in Lubbock. So you're in West Texas. You don't just stay in West Texas and then leave. Right. You continue on, continue to cover this race. So you go out to Tyler, and there's a part in your story where you say you were asking folks, why James Talrico and at the Crockett rally, similarly, why Jasmine Crockett? And they seemed to have a interest in the other candidate, but it was just about that style. Can you just talk to me a little bit about that? What is that actually saying? That they're both interested in the policies and the people, but the style is really kind of what's different.

[B]

Yeah. I was surprised given how, you know, controversial or ugly the primary has seemed online and from the outside, that when I got there, people who like Jasmine Crockett still told me. But I like that James Talarico, too. He seems nice. I'm not gonna vote for him, but he seems nice. And if he was in a general, I'd vote for him. People were not so much interested in their policies. They were interested in style. People who liked Crockett, liked that she was gonna go out there and go after Trump, gonna prosecute people. When Democrats were back in power, people who liked Talarico, they were kind of playing a little bit of 3D chess. Right. They were saying, well, I like Talarico because I think he'll appeal to more Republicans and independents and moderates when the general election comes. So maybe they would prefer Crockett, maybe some of them would prefer Crockett, but they were thinking about electability. And I think Democrats in Texas are really balancing this, like, urge for a fighter with a desire to win.

[A]

So we've been talking about the Democratic candidates. Obviously, the primaries are on Tuesday. And you've been watching the Republican side as well. So what should we be looking out for?

[B]

So I think the Republicans have their own real, real mess over there. I would say there's three Republicans in the race. John Cornyn, who's already a senator, who's running for reelection. Ken Paxton, Attorney general, who is running against. And Wesley Hunt, who is sort of the spoiler in the race. People like him. Who knows if he may be the force that sets the race to a runoff. But I'm watching what happens if Paxton is the nominee. Right now, polls show he's probably gonna beat Cornyn. He's probably gonna be the Republican nominee for the race. And here's why Democrats love to hear this, because. Because Paxton brings a ton of baggage. He was impeached and acquitted over allegations of bribery and corruption. He was accused by his wife of having an affair. He has this long laundry list of scandals that Republicans are worried is going to make him just a toxic candidate. And Democrats are really excited. Will make him so weak that a Democrat could finally win in Texas. And I think part of what makes Talarico particularly exciting for a lot of Democrats is they think he has the best chance to beat Paxton. If it comes down to a head to head, I think Crockett probably would have a good chance, too, although her unfavorables are very high compared to Talarico's. So that is something I'll be watching, too. That's something we'll all be watching is what happens on the Republican side. Because that's really going to determine, you know, what the chances are for a Democrat to win statewide in Texas for the first time in, like, 30 years.

[A]

Yeah. So they're thinking it could be like a Doug Jones, Roy Moore kind of situation.

[B]

Exactly. Yep.

[A]

Well, we'll be watching. Elaine, thank you so much.

[B]

Thank you for having me.

[A]

This episode of Radio Atlantic was produced by Rosie Hughes. It was edited by Claudine Abade. Rob Smerciak engineered this episode and provided original music. Claudina Baid is the executive producer of Atlantic Audio and Andrea Valdez is our managing editor. Listeners, if you like what you hear on Radio Atlantic, you can support our work and the work of all Atlantic journalists when you subscribe to the [e-mail] listener I'm Adam Harris. Thank you for listening. Lifelock. How can I help?

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