DALLAS 性视界传媒 Four of Texas性视界传媒 leading Democrats met last month to sort out which of them is the best choice to run for the Senate seat held by Republican John Cornyn and to potentially develop a slate that would contend for other statewide offices.
There was a major obstacle. They all were steadfastly interested in running for Senate 性视界传媒 and nothing else, advisers to three of the potential candidates told The Dallas Morning News this week.
The May 31 virtual meeting featured former U.S. Reps. Colin Allred and Beto O性视界传媒橰ourke, along with U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro and state Rep. James Talarico.
The potential candidates declined to discuss details of their private meeting, even as operatives from the four camps touted their political bona fides to The Dallas Morning News.
With much of the party性视界传媒檚 top talent interested in the marquee race, it could be difficult for Democrats to develop a robust slate of candidates, though they are hopeful the situation will work itself out.
Some Democrats hope the four top Democrats would be slotted in campaigns for Senate, governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.
Democrats are anticipating the 2026 political climate will be unforgiving for Republicans. Historically the party that controls the White House takes losses during midterm elections and Democrats hope voters will sour on President Donald Trump.
There性视界传媒檚 also the prospect that Attorney General Ken Paxton, who in 2023 was impeached before being acquitted by the Texas Senate and has a history of legal troubles, will defeat Cornyn for the GOP Senate nomination. Polls show Democrats would fare better against Paxton than Cornyn, a proven general election juggernaut.
性视界传媒淚性视界传媒檓 sure everybody wants a path that性视界传媒檚 going to get them to a win and lead the Democrats out of the wilderness. That性视界传媒檚 what history will remember,性视界传媒 said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political scientist. 性视界传媒淎ssuming Paxton wins, he性视界传媒檚 the most vulnerable statewide official and he性视界传媒檚 the clear target.性视界传媒
According to the advisers, Allred, Castro, O性视界传媒橰ourke and Talarico each left the meeting unmoved in their stand that they themselves should be the Senate nominee.
The four intend to meet again this summer.
Voters will get a preview of what such a slate would look like this Friday, when Castro and Talarico join O性视界传媒橰ourke for a town hall gathering in San Antonio. O性视界传媒橰ourke also invited Allred to the event, but he性视界传媒檚 currently not scheduled to attend.
Rice political scientist Mark Jones said a statewide slate of the state性视界传媒檚 top Democrats 性视界传媒 in theory 性视界传媒 could lift the party to its first statewide victory since 1994. In any scenario, however, Democrats would be underdogs in statewide races against rival Republicans.
性视界传媒淚f you have a good candidate running for attorney general, for instance, that raises the visibility of that race, and that raises Democratic turnout for that candidate,性视界传媒 Jones said. 性视界传媒淎nd so it性视界传媒檚 more of a combined effect. In the grand scheme of things, it may not be a dramatic effect, but we性视界传媒檙e talking about a race that if you性视界传媒檙e going to win as a Democrat, you性视界传媒檙e going to win at the margins 性视界传媒 having a competitive AG race and other competitive races could be the difference.性视界传媒
Rottinghaus pointed out that in 2002 Democrats developed what they called a 性视界传媒渄ream ticket性视界传媒 or 性视界传媒渄ream team.性视界传媒 It featured former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk for Senate against Cornyn, Laredo businessman Tony Sanchez for governor against Rick Perry, former Comptroller John Sharp against David Dewhurst for lieutenant governor and former Austin Mayor Kirk Watson against Greg Abbott for attorney general.
Republicans swept those races and took control of the Texas House for the first time since Reconstruction. Since then, Democrats have been unsuccessful in developing political firepower on a statewide level. The lack of competitive high-stakes races have hurt. In 2018 the lightly-funded and not well known Lupe Valdez, the former Dallas County sheriff, ran against Abbott for governor. Since he didn性视界传媒檛 perceive her as a serious threat, Abbott was able to help other candidates on the ballot, including Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who was locked in a tough race against O性视界传媒橰ourke.
It性视界传媒檚 still unclear if using all of the party性视界传媒檚 best talent in multiple races works.
性视界传媒淎ll this sounds great on paper, but in practice, most voters aren性视界传媒檛 linking all of them together,性视界传媒 Rottinghaus said. 性视界传媒淚t性视界传媒檚 possible that could be something that gets remedied in this modern incarnation of the Dream Team, but it性视界传媒檚 still something that requires a lot of the lift.性视界传媒
And one member of a hyped slate could bring down the others.
性视界传媒淭he other thing is that for all the positives of having a unified ticket, there are also negatives, including some of the members are either not well known, or are well known in a way that maybe people don性视界传媒檛 like, so the vulnerabilities of one become the problems for all of them,性视界传媒 Rottinghaus said.
Dallas County Democratic Party Chairman Kardal Coleman said a good candidate slate 性视界传媒渉as to be balanced性视界传媒 and contain 性视界传媒渃andidates that can appeal to the diverse state,性视界传媒
性视界传媒淲e have to have diversity and diversity in ideals. We性视界传媒檙e a big tent party,性视界传媒 Coleman said.
Coleman added that 性视界传媒淥性视界传媒橰ourke is center-left,性视界传媒 while Castro or Allred 性视界传媒渁re a little bit more moderate.性视界传媒 He called Talarico a 性视界传媒淭ikTok sensation who can reach a number of people online.性视界传媒
Coleman said other names have emerged as potential statewide candidates, including state Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, who is considering running for attorney general.
性视界传媒淲e need to make sure we have all of our bases covered and have a strong candidate in every race, not just a crowded field in one,性视界传媒 Coleman said.
Decisions about 2026 are about to be revealed.
Allred, a Dallas Democrat who lost a 2024 Senate challenge to Cruz, said he would announce his decision about running for Cornyn性视界传媒檚 seat in early July. Other announcements could follow.
A former three-term congressman, Allred has told The News and KXAS (NBC 5) that he learned from his Senate run against Cruz. His freedom from congressional responsibilities would allow him to 性视界传媒渞un differently,性视界传媒 Allred said.
A recent Texas Southern University poll showed Allred would do better than O性视界传媒橰ourke against a Republican, but it性视界传媒檚 too early to predict the outcome of a primary battle. In the poll, Paxton leads Allred by 2 percentage points, O性视界传媒橰ourke by 3 and Castro by 3. Cornyn led Allred by 4 points, O性视界传媒橰ourke by 6 points and Castro by 7 points.
The poll had Allred with the highest proportion of 2024 voters with a favorable opinion of him at 45%. O性视界传媒橰ourke had the highest proportion of those voters with an unfavorable opinion of him at 49%. His favorability rating was 43%. Castro性视界传媒檚 favorability score was 34%, while 27% did not have a favorable opinion of him. These were not solely Democratic primary voters, however.
性视界传媒淚n many ways Allred has sort of the right of refusal,性视界传媒 said Jones, co-author of the survey. 性视界传媒淚f he性视界传媒檚 all in, it性视界传媒檚 going to be tough for anybody to raise money against him in a primary, as well as to break the narrative that he性视界传媒檚 the clear frontrunner.性视界传媒
O性视界传媒橰ourke has run statewide campaigns in 2018 and 2022 and has deep connections to party activists across the state.
The other members of the quartet appear serious about running for Senate.
Many Democrats have long urged Castro, a former state representative who has served nearly 12 years in Congress, to run for statewide office. Castro has considered running statewide campaigns before, including against Paxton, the attorney general, Abbott and Cruz.
In each instance Castro opted to stay in Congress, where he性视界传媒檚 become a prominent Democratic voice.
If Castro, D-San Antonio, runs for Senate, he could unlock a door to voters 性视界传媒 including Latinos and younger residents 性视界传媒 that Democrats need in order to build a successful coalition.
He has legislative experience in Austin and Washington, having served in the Texas House with Paxton.
O性视界传媒橰ourke is perhaps the best known of the group.
His 2018 campaign against Cruz electrified Texas Democrats, independents and some Republicans. O性视界传媒橰ourke lost to Cruz by 2.6 percentage points. He turned that narrow defeat into an unsuccessful run for president, which some analysts say hurt his efforts to be a winning statewide candidate. In 2022 Abbott beat him for reelection.
O性视界传媒橰ourke has stayed busy, leading the political action committee and grassroots group Powered by People. He性视界传媒檚 held numerous rallies across the state to push back against Trump性视界传媒檚 policies, including a crowded Sunday event in Fort Worth with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont.
Like Allred, O性视界传媒橰ourke is a proven fundraiser who can match or outraise his rivals. His 2018 campaign was instrumental in helping down-ballot candidates across the state. The party wrestled 12 Texas House seats from Republicans, as well as congressional seats won by Allred and Houston Democrat Lizzie Fletcher.
Talarico, who emerged as a key opposition leader in the Texas House, told The News he性视界传媒檚 considering running for Senate as opposed to any other office.
The Austin Democrat is a former school teacher who frequently goes viral on social media. Much of his social media popularity involved his resistance against Abbott性视界传媒檚 plan to allow students to use public dollars to attend private schools.
With his social media presence and newness to the statewide political scene, Talarico could appeal to younger voters and new voters. He could also energize a Democratic base frustrated that Democrats don性视界传媒檛 provide voters with fresh or unique alternatives. As with most candidates, fundraising and building name recognition in a large state is challenging.
It性视界传媒檚 unlikely that all four candidates will stay in the race for what would be a crowded March primary.
Still, it remains a game of political chicken.
性视界传媒淚f they can性视界传媒檛 get unified in terms of who性视界传媒檚 going to run for what, it性视界传媒檚 going to be even harder for them to unify around a message that性视界传媒檚 going to sell to voters,性视界传媒 Rottinghaus said. 性视界传媒淭hey all want to run for Senate, because that性视界传媒檚 one singular race, that性视界传媒檚 one person and one candidate message.性视界传媒
