(LM Otero / AP)

Patriot Brief

• GOP operatives quietly boosted Jasmine Crockett to weaken Democrats’ Senate bench.

• Republicans believe Crockett would be easily defeated statewide in Texas.

• The strategy hinges on GOP turnout holding without Trump on the ballot.

This is the kind of political chess that makes Washington think it’s smarter than voters. By quietly boosting Jasmine Crockett’s profile, Senate Republicans are betting that Democrats will do what they so often do: mistake noise for electability. Crockett may thrill the activist class with her bombast and Trump-obsessed rhetoric, but Texas is not Twitter, and statewide elections are unforgiving to candidates built entirely on outrage.

Squeezing out Colin Allred was the real prize here. Allred at least looked plausible to suburban voters and moderates. Crockett does not. She’s a walking opposition ad, and Republicans know it.

Still, this plan isn’t risk-free. Without Trump on the ballot, turnout dynamics change, and overconfidence has doomed many “sure thing” races before. The strategy only works if Republicans show up. If they don’t, this clever maneuver could turn into an unforced error with national consequences.

From Western Journal:

No one has ever mistaken Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas for an intelligent and humble public servant.

When your opponents help orchestrate your political ascent, however, you might want to stop and rethink your plans.

According to the nonprofit News of the United States (NOTUS), the National Republican Senatorial Committee quietly pushed for Crockett to enter the 2026 Texas Senate race on the assumption that the eventual winner of a brutal GOP primary would easily defeat the vile congresswoman, who has built her political career largely on racism and unhinged hatred of President Donald Trump.

In June, a group of Texas Democrats, including Colin Allred and James Talarico, met to discuss the Texas Senate seat currently held by Republican Sen. John Cornyn. Polls have shown Allred and Talarico as formidable challengers.

Meanwhile, according to RealClear Polling, Cornyn finds himself in a tight three-way Republican primary race. The latest polling aggregate shows Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tied at 30 percent. Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas finds himself in striking distance at 21 percent.

Thus, eager to avoid Allred or Talarico, the NRSC conducted a Democrat primary poll in July that included Crockett’s name.

“When we saw the results, we were like, ‘OK, we got to disseminate this far and wide,’” a source told NOTUS.

In other words, Crockett’s brand of racist, Trump-hating politics appeals to Democrats’ unhinged base. The congresswoman, therefore, performed well in the poll.

Then, the NRSC helped “orchestrate the pile on of these polling numbers to really drive that news cycle and that narrative that Jasmine Crockett was surging in Texas,” the same source told NOTUS.

But the Senate Republicans did not stop there. In fact, the NOTUS source described a lengthy campaign on Crockett’s behalf.

“That was really a sustained effort that we orchestrated across the ecosystem for several months,” the source said. “Not only was it getting positive news coverage, but her office was directly having traffic driven to it in terms of phone calls urging her to run.”

Sure enough, on Monday, Crockett announced her Senate candidacy.

For the cherry on top of the Texas GOP’s subterfuge sundae, Allred withdrew from the race that same day.

Having pulled off their coup, Texas Republicans now must utter those famous last words: What could go wrong?

In the 2024 election, Trump defeated then-Vice President Kamala Harris by 1.5 million votes and 14 percentage points in Texas. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, however, defeated Allred by only nine points, according to the Associated Press.

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