'Are you kidding?' Texas GOP senators scoff at challenge from Jasmine Crockett

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) finally settled weeks of speculation on Monday by announcing her candidacy for U.S. Senate — but for the time being, at least, Texas' two Republican senators do not feel threatened by her.

Asked for comment by Raw Story, Sen. John Cornyn, the senator currently seeking reelection, said, "I welcome her to the race."

Cornyn, who faces a serious threat in his own primary by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, added that he doesn't consider her a substantive candidate.

"No, are you kidding? Has she actually passed anything?" said Cornyn. "I think that's where the Democratic Party is today. Getting a guy like Colin Allred to bow out because he's afraid of losing the primary is all you really need to see."

Sen. Ted Cruz had a similar assessment of his colleague's competition.

"The Democrat Party has decided to be the party of crazy, and I can't think of a better frontman for the job," Cruz told Raw Story. "I don't think Texas is terribly eager to be represented by a hard-left radical. And [Zohran] Mamdani may be elected in Manhattan, but I don't think that Texas is going down the same road."

Crockett, one of President Donald Trump's most outspoken detractors in Congress, has said she wants to focus on driving Democratic base voter enthusiasm, but has also speculated in a recent interview she could compete for some lower-propensity Trump voters: "We are going to be able to get people that potentially have voted for Trump, even though I obviously am one of his loudest opponents, because at the end of the day, they vote for who they believe is fighting for them. It's about moving people, and I've got a track record of doing that."

With former Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) bowing out of the Senate race to run for a congressional district in Dallas, Crockett's main primary opponent will be James Talarico, an Austin-area state representative and Presbyterian seminarian.