Quiet GOP 'Astroturf' campaign convinced liberal firebrand to run for US Senate, source says
It appears some behind-the-scenes tinkering by the Senate Republican campaign arm helped spur progressive firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett to declare her candidacy this week in Texas' high-stakes Senate race.The campaign...
By Fox News · Fox News
It appears some behind-the-scenes tinkering by the Senate Republican campaign arm helped spur progressive firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett to declare her candidacy this week in Texas' high-stakes Senate race. The campaign launch by Crockett, a two-term lawmaker who represents a Dallas-area district and who is known as a vocal critic and foil of President Donald Trump , quickly shifted the political spotlight off of the Republican nomination race, where incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn is involved in a divisive primary with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt. The GOP boosting of a preferred primary opponent comes in a race with extremely high stakes, as it's one of a handful across the country that will likely determine if Republicans hold their Senate majority in next year's midterm elections. As the race in Texas was heating up this past summer, Crockett, a rising Democratic Party star who enjoys a large social media footprint, was not among the list of Democrats widely considered as contenders for the party's nomination. DEMOCRATS RIFT WIDENS: IS JASMINE CROCKETT TOO FAR LEFT FOR TEXAS VOTERS? But Republican strategists viewed Crockett as a more beatable opponent in the 2026 general election than either former Rep. Colin Allred, who until Monday was making his second straight Senate bid, state Rep. James Talarico, another rising party star who launched his campaign in September, and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Rep. Joaquin Castro, who at the time were mulling bids. So the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) released a poll in July that indicated Crockett with a double-digit lead over the rest of the field of actual and potential Democratic Senate contenders. The poll quickly grabbed plenty of national attention. A source familiar with the NRSC's process told Fox News Digital that when they saw the results of the survey, they instantly said, "We've got to disseminate this far and wide." The survey spurred other polls which also indic…