Crockett Eleventh-Hour Senate Campaign
Could Spark Scrambles for 2 House Seats

Capitol Inside
December 7, 2025

Democrats could be on the verge of playing musical chairs in two or more congressional battlefield in the Dallas-Fort Worth area if U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett launches a belated campaign for the U.S. Senate before the filing deadline for the 2026 primary elections on Monday.

A 44-year-old civil rights lawyer who's taken Washington D.C. by storm during her first two terms in Congress, Crockett has been teasing a potential Senate run for several weeks amid the assertion that the polling she's reviewed shows that she could win the bid for a promotion if she seeks it at the polls in 2026.

Crockett apparently plans to wait to the last minute to reveal her decision based on the fact that she's scheduled an announcement less than two hours before the curtain closes on primary ballot application submissions on Monday evening. CNN reported on Sunday that Crockett has invited hundreds of supporters to the event - another potential sign that she's going to try to make the leap with a bid for the position that Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn has held for 22 years and is fighting to keep next year.

Crockett indicated that she still didn't know as late as Friday whether she would run for re-election to the U.S. House or the Senate. But she said the windfall of attention that she's reaped with the deliberations on a personal path makes it clear that the Republicans are afraid of losing if she runs.

"It is hilarious to me that me saying that I will announce what I plan to do on 12/8, like I’ve been saying is scaring the heck out of so many people," Crockett said on Thursday in a post on X. "The attacks are hilarious… note to those that don’t know how politics works… only the threat gets attacked ..."

Cornyn faces his toughest test by far in the GOP primary election with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston as the cream of a challenger crop that also includes a quartet of political unknowns in John Adefope, Anna Bender, Virgil John Bierschwale and Gulrez "Gus" Kahn.

Crockett would face a former colleague in State Rep. James Talarico of Austin in the Democratic primary if she sets her sights on the higher office. Ahmad Hassen of Katy has filed for the Senate race in Texas as well.

But the Democratic nominee for the Senate a year ago - former Dallas congressional member Colin Allred - had not filed for the race by Sunday even though he's been running for the job for months. It's possible that Allred could switch his sights to the Congressional District 30 race if Crockett decides to give up the seat so she can be a candidate for the U.S. Senate instead.

Another possible scenario that could be in the making could have Allred as a candidate in Congressional District 33 where Democratic U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey of Fort Worth has filed to seek another term. Veasey in such a chain of events could move his application to Crockett's current turf in CD 30 if she's in the running for the Senate instead. Or Allred could run in CD 30 if Veasey stays put in CD 33.

Dallas Democrat Rodney LaBruce is the only candidate who'd filed to run in Crockett's current district before the weekend. LaBruce is an unknown commodity compared to the current and former lawmakers in the potential hunt for CD 30.

The Republicans in Austin made substantial alterations to CD 33 and CD 30 during the summer on the congressional map that the U.S. Supreme Court approved last week for use in the 2026 elections here. GOP state lawmakers stripped Tarrant County, Veasey's home base, from CD 33, which is contained exclusively in Dallas County now. CD 30 has a slice of Tarrant County on the new map.

Black residents account for 46 percent of the population of CD 30 compared to a mere 16 percent with the new boundaries for U.S. House districts in place.

more to come ...