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There is zero doubt who is already the winner of the first week of early voting in Texas, even if a single ballot hasn't been counted yet.
James Talarico.
When CBS, reportedly under pressure from the Federal Communications Commission, stopped talk show host Stephen Colbert from airing an interview with the Democrat running for the U.S. Senate to his TV audience, he posted it online and set off an avalanche of hype.
As of Wednesday, over 6 million people had watched the interview on the show's official YouTube page — an audience that triples Colbert's usual late-night TV audience.
But there's more. Talarico also raked $2.5 million into his campaign as he fundraised off what he called the attempt to censor him.
"This is a campaign of, by, and for the people — so I'm proud that neighbors from all across our state and country stood together to defend free speech," Talarico said about the fundraising.
It couldn't come at a better time for Talarico, who, in a University of Houston poll released earlier this week, was trailing Democrat Jasmine Crockett in their primary battle for the U.S. Senate. And it helps Talarico turn attention away from a distracting social media fight in which he was suddenly pitted against former U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred, who isn't even in the race. There were racial undertones in it all that had Talarico playing a little more defense than he had during most of his campaign thus far.
But now, with voters more tuned in with the start of early voting, Talarico is riding high in a race that is fast becoming one of the most-watched in the nation.
Crockett isn't so sure the full story is quite clear about the whole Colbert mess. She told reporters she is still trying to understand what just happened and is trying to get official confirmation that the FCC didn't really force Colbert to take the show down. Instead, she said they could have just brought her on for an interview to make sure there were no issues with candidates having equal time, as had been the concern. She's been on the show before, but that was prior to entering the race as an official candidate.
"There may have been advice to just have me on, and then they could clear the issue," Crockett told reporters on Tuesday. "It was my understanding that someone, somewhere decided, 'We just don't want to do that.'"
Much of the momentum seemed to be going Crockett's way over the last few weeks. Poll results showed her in a good position and she sparked a viral moment during a high-profile committee hearing with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Crockett questioned Bondi's law degree and her grasp of basic legal concepts.
"You're spending more taxpayer resources arresting journalists than you are prosecuting pedophiles and creeps," Crockett said in reference to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Bondi fired back that Crockett and other Democrats want to talk about the Epstein files just so they can avoid talking about their failed border security efforts over the years.
Early voting is already underway in Texas for the March 3 primary. The winner of the race will take on the winner of the GOP primary, in which Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt are trying to knock out U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.
 | Jeremy Wallace, Texas politics reporter |
Who's Up, Who's Down
A daily stock market-style report on key players in Texas politics.
Up: Jesse Jackson
The civil rights icon and former presidential candidate who died this week at the age of 84 was a regular in Texas, particularly in Houston. As columnist Joy Sewing noted, he traveled with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to Houston and had important campaign events in the area during his run for the White House in 1988. More recently, in 2018 was part of a discussion with community leaders about economic justice and the cash bail system in Harris County. He leaves behind a long legacy of advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues, including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care.
Down: Jasmine Crockett.
Of all the times for her Democratic rival to get a big boost in their battle for the U.S. Senate, it happened at the start of early voting when voters are even more tuned in. And Crockett knows it. "I think it probably gave my opponent the boost he was looking for," Crockett told Jen Psaki on MS NOW. The drama around why the interview wasn't aired on CBS ultimately gave James Talarico a massive boost of fundraising and name recognition at a time polls showed he was behind Crockett.
What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.
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Photo by: Andrew Harnik/Associated Press
U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales engaged in a romantic relationship with an aide who died last year by setting herself on fire outside her Uvalde home, according to a text message and people close to the aide and her family. A former staffer in Gonzales's district office who worked closely with the aide, Regina Ann "Regi" Santos-Aviles, said she told him they had an affair in 2024, and that she spiraled into a depression after her husband discovered the relationship and Gonzales abruptly cut her off. He also shared with the San Antonio Express-News a screenshot of a text message from Santos-Aviles in which she acknowledged having an "affair with our boss."
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Thanks in part to declining international enrollment, the University of North Texas says they are projecting a $45 million budget shortfall. Milla Surjadi of the Dallas Morning News reports that the school is still working out how to close the budget gap, but the school's president warned "hard choices" will have to be made.
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