Jasmine Crockett Is Not Running a Traditional Campaign. It’s Making Allies Anxious.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s post-Senate campaign announcement fundraising surge never materialized. She has been outspent more nearly 19-to-1 on political ads this year and hadn’t run a single broadcast ad as of early February. And some Democrats in communication with her campaign aren’t sure who exactly is in charge of it.

Even by her own advisers’ admission, Crockett is not running a traditional campaign.

With three weeks until next month’s primary, Crockett is locked in a tight fight with state Rep. James Talarico, battling for the Democratic nomination for Senate in Texas. The primary is one of the most closely watched in the country, drawing interest for the implications it carries for November’s general election and the way it has highlighted intense internal divisions within the Democratic Party.

In Texas, Crockett is eschewing many of the traditional facets of a major Senate bid, choosing instead to focus on in-person politicking and local events that supporters say energize the rank-and-file liberal voters. Campaign officials say Crockett often does more than a dozen stops on weekends before returning to Washington during the week and receives overwhelmingly positive responses.

“We reject the DC playbook of politics as usual, because this moment — and winning — demands something different,” Karrol Rimal, Crockett’s deputy campaign manager, told NOTUS in a statement.

But the campaign’s choices have left some Democrats scratching their heads, anxious that the unconventional approach could squander Crockett’s significant edge in name recognition against Talarico in a race that’s now in its home stretch, especially in a large state where mass media is usually seen as a strategic necessity.

“I don’t think she’s a particularly strong candidate,” said one Democratic strategist tracking the race, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about their evaluation of Crockett’s campaign. “I don’t think she’s putting together a particularly strong effort. And I don’t think they’re particularly interested in taking any advice on how to make things better.”

The contrast with Talarico’s campaign is so stark that the primary amounted to a “political science experiment” set to test how much campaigns even matter in a Democratic primary, the Democrat said.

The source and other Democrats, including those supportive of Talarico, emphasized that Crockett remains capable of winning the March 3 primary, in part because of her near-celebrity status among Democratic voters and the strong affection of her most dedicated supporters.

But some Democrats nonetheless expected more, even if Crockett only launched her campaign two and a half months before the primary.

“A lot of candidates jump in late to the game,” said one Democrat who talks with the congresswoman’s campaign. “It’s what they do. And a lot of candidates are able to find a real campaign manager and are still able to put together a commanding fundraising plan with a singular goal of beating your competition in the first 24 hours.”

Crockett’s campaign hasn’t done any of those things, the source added.

“There wasn’t that work done ahead of time, but there should have been,” the source said. “I just don’t get it. She could have been better organized, but she wasn’t.”

Of particular frustration to Democrats in contact with the Crockett campaign is the lack of a known campaign manager. Many expected the campaign to be managed by Jason Lee, son of former Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee who most recently worked for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, according to two Democrats.

But Crockett advisers have publicly denied that Lee is running the campaign, and they have not announced a campaign manager.

Veteran Democratic pollster Terrance Woodbury is the campaign’s pollster. Ad-maker Cayce McCabe is doing the creative work for its paid media operation.

Democrats are closely watching the primary between Crockett and Talarico, hopeful that a budding political backlash to President Donald Trump and the GOP’s own messy primary could give Democrats a chance to win statewide in Texas for the first time in more than 30 years. Their hopes were turbocharged late last month, after a Texas state Senate candidate won a special election to represent a seat held by the GOP for nearly 50 years.

Until late last year, the contest was on track to be a showdown between Talarico and former Democratic Rep. Colin Allred, the party’s nominee for Senate in 2024 who launched another bid last year.

But the entrance of Crockett — who since being elected to Congress in 2022 has risen to national prominence thanks to her colorful if controversial denunciation of Republicans — pushed Allred out of the race. And it’s left analysts pondering whether a Democrat can win in Texas by animating the Democratic base and commanding media attention, even if some rhetoric risks alienating moderates, independents and Republicans frustrated with the party.

Crockett’s campaign dismissed criticism as meaningless chatter in Washington, divorced from the congresswoman’s success in on-the-ground-campaigning in Texas. Rimal pointed to an event in San Antonio last month, for instance, that he said was meant to be a small event but turned into a full-on rally because so many people showed up.

“Whether it’s the clubs in Houston, the bars of McAllen, or church services in San Antonio -- people immediately recognize the Congresswoman and are eager for a picture, to share words of encouragement, a quick prayer, or even FaceTime their loved ones who follow the Congresswoman’s work,” Rimal said in a statement.

Talarico has had his own recent difficulties, including last week when Allred endorsed Crockett after a liberal influencer accused the state lawmaker of calling Allred a “mediocre” Black man. Talarico has said he called Allred’s campaign “mediocre.”

Some Texas Democrats defended Crockett’s approach, saying that she has always taken an unconventional approach to campaigns and that it’s always worked out for her.

“This isn’t an apples to apples comparison of traditional campaigns because for all intents and purposes, Jasmine Crockett is not a traditional politician,” Jen Ramos, political commentator and a member of the Texas State Democratic Executive Committee, told NOTUS. “So it would only make sense that she does not run a campaign in a traditional way.

“Candidates of color cannot use these traditional methods because these traditional methods were not designed for them,” Ramos added.

Still, Talarico’s spending edge so far in the primary is alarming to some Crockett supporters. His campaign has spent almost $4.9 million this year, according to AdImpact, compared to $260,000 from Crockett’s campaign.

A super PAC supporting Talarico, meanwhile, has spent about $3.2 million this year, according to AdImpact. Crockett has not yet received financial support from a super PAC.

None of Crockett’s spending has gone toward broadcast advertising, which is traditionally where campaigns have spent their most ad money. Crockett has money for ads — her campaign had more than $6 million on hand to start the year — and her supporters have previously suggested that her campaign would start running ads shortly.

Political strategists point out that with the primary almost three weeks away, time is already running out for her ads to have much of an effect on voters. Early voting in Texas begins next week.

Rimal said the campaign was trying to be thoughtful of how it spends its donors’ money. The deputy campaign manager declined to say when ads would start to run.

“We will ramp up our spending on the airwaves on our timeline based on our strategy to win both the primary and general election,” Rimal said.

The campaign did signal over the weekend that it wanted an allied outside group to start spending money on its behalf, putting up a so-called “red box” on its website containing instructions on which voters to target and with which message. Such communication methods, which are necessary because super PACs and candidates are not legally permitted to coordinate their activities, usually imminently precede an ad spending blitz from an outside group.

That spending still wouldn’t come from Crockett’s campaign. Some Democrats also say they expected Crockett to raise more money in the opening weeks of her campaign, given her national name recognition and the size and fundraising might of a wealthy state like Texas.

Crockett raised about $2 million from her campaign launch on Dec. 8 through the end of last year, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Talarico’s spending edge has helped him close what supporters acknowledge was an early deficit against Crockett, whose superior name recognition gave her an initial edge in the contest. Now, many of them think the state lawmaker has a real chance of winning, in large part because of the money and effort behind his campaign.

“I think there was an assumption that she was going to be this fundraising powerhouse, and we haven’t seen any evidence to that effect,” said one Democratic strategist who is not affiliated with either campaign.

“It’s totally wild that we’re not seeing more ad buys this late in the campaign from them,” the source said. “It is possible that they’re just doing digital, which wouldn’t get tracked as well in the metrics because it’s not like ad buying in the same way. But it doesn’t seem that way.”