Poll Shows Jasmine Crockett Could Beat Ken Paxton In Texas Senate Race

New polling shows Jasmine Crockett could beat Republicans in the upcoming Texas Senate general election.

A new poll suggests U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett may have the strongest chance among Democrats to challenge Republicans in Texas’ upcoming U.S. Senate general election.

New polling from Hart Research shows the outspoken Dallas Democrat leading Ken Paxton in a hypothetical general election matchup for the U.S. Senate seat now held by John Cornyn, USA Today reports. Paxton is currently polling ahead of Cornyn in the GOP primary, which could still head to a runoff.

“I’ve been doing the work and fighting on behalf of Texans since before I entered this race,” Crockett said in a statement. “Voters know my leadership and trust me to fight for them. Texas voters are smarter than DC would have you believe. Texans can cut through the noise and won’t be swayed by pundits nor podcasters.”

“I’m up with Latino voters and young people, independents favor me by a double-digit margin, and I am the preferred candidate of working-class voters,” she added. “This is who we need to rebuild our winning democratic coalition.”

Meanwhile, Crockett faces a tight Democratic primary against James Talarico, an Austin lawmaker whose recent appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert significantly boosted his profile and fundraising. When Talarico appeared on Feb. 16, host Colbert said CBS lawyers advised against airing the interview due to concerns about Trump-era regulators.

Talarico’s campaign reported raising $2.5 million within 24 hours of the segment’s pull. Crockett later told MSNow that the controversy likely gave her rival “the boost he was looking for,” adding that she’s never been invited on Colbert’s show since launching her Senate campaign.

After Talarico’s appearance on Colbert, Crockett said CBS representatives told her the network didn’t block the segment, but that if Talarico appeared, she would need to be offered equal airtime.

“They just said, if you air it, just make sure that you offer the representative equal time. Now, obviously, I wasn’t engaged in that conversation, so I cannot confirm the veracity of any statements,” she said. “But I can confirm that I had never been asked to go on as it relates to kind of talking about the Senate race.”