Rep. Jasmine Crockett issued a statement Wednesday conceding the Democratic Senate nomination in Texas to James Talarico, a state lawmaker and seminarian, in a contest that served as an early test of the party’s direction heading into the November midterm elections.

Earlier Wednesday, it had not been clear whether Crockett would concede immediately after The Associated Press called the race for Talarico, or whether a last-minute legal fight over Dallas County’s voting procedures would slow Democrats’ pivot to the general election. Crockett had told supporters at her election party Tuesday night that people had “been disenfranchised” in Dallas County. But in her statement Wednesday morning, Crockett said she had called Talarico and congratulated him on his victory.

“Texas is primed to turn blue, and we must remain united because this is bigger than any one person,” Crockett said in her statement. “This is about the future of all 30 million Texans and getting America back on track.”

Talarico said in a speech early Wednesday that his campaign was “shocking the nation.”

“The people of our state gave this country a little bit of hope,” he told supporters. “And a little bit of hope is a dangerous thing.”

His campaign declared victory later Wednesday morning. “We’re about to take back Texas,” he said in a statement.

In the Republican race, Sen. John Cornyn, the embattled incumbent, was headed for a May runoff against Ken Paxton, the state’s scandal-plagued attorney general, after neither candidate won the outright majority needed to advance under the state’s electoral system. Rep. Wesley Hunt finished a distant third. President Donald Trump has declined to endorse a candidate, but hinted that he might in the runoff.

A twist in the Democratic race came Tuesday evening when a state district judge ordered Dallas County to keep its polls open for two extra hours after changes to rules involving polling locations caused confusion about where some voters could cast their ballots.

The issue was further complicated hours later when the Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked the lower court’s ruling and ordered that ballots be separated if they were cast by voters who were not in line by 7 p.m. local time, the time polls initially were to close.

The Democratic contest between Talarico, who has called for a more compassionate politics, and Crockett, a partisan brawler, has in part offered a test of Democratic voters’ appetite for a less combative form of resistance to the Trump administration.

Here’s What Else to Know:

— Concession Call: Crockett told The New York Times that she did not connect with Talarico on Wednesday morning but left him a voicemail message. Her quick concession avoided an ugly situation for Texas Democrats, who feared that a contested race would damage their chances in November.

— A photo finish in North Carolina: The primary race for the state Senate seat in North Carolina held by Phil Berger, widely considered the most powerful Republican elected official in the state, remained too close to call Tuesday night, according to The Associated Press.

— Crenshaw falls: Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who split with Trump over his 2020 election denialism, lost in a Republican primary to Steve Toth, a hard-line conservative state lawmaker. Crenshaw was the only incumbent Texas Republican running for reelection in the House who was not endorsed by the president.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Tim Balk/Travis Dove
c. 2026 The New York Times Company