WATCH: Obama, Harris advisor warns ‘betrayed’ Black voters could be Texas Senate candidate's kryptonite
Democratic strategists are worried that Senate hopeful James Talarico’s chances of flipping Texas blue are being jeopardized by what they see as a major vulnerability: a lack of enthusiasm on the part of Texas Black voters, who are feeling "betrayed" by the party.
Veteran Democratic strategist Ashley Etienne, a former advisor to President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris, said that despite Talarico’s history of controversial statements, she believes he is "incredibly well positioned" to become the first Democrat to flip a Texas Senate seat blue in decades. However, she identified one major vulnerability, saying Black voters are "feeling like they were betrayed" by "what happened to Jasmine Crockett."
Talarico, a Texas state lawmaker and Presbyterian seminarian, defeated Black congresswoman Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate earlier this year.
Etienne explained that following Crockett’s defeat, "some voters, Black women in particular, are feeling as though the Democratic Party and Democratic candidates want our labor, but not our leadership." The "two biggest examples," she said, are "Kamala Harris' loss and Jasmine Crockett's loss."
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Talarico’s history of hot takes, such as saying he "hates Christianity," calling God "nonbinary" and asserting that there are six sexes, has caused significant controversy. While Etienne believes that Talarico can swat away these resurfaced comments, she believes the feeling of Black voter "betrayal" could sink his Senate hopes.
A Texas native, Etienne also served as a senior advisor to former President Joe Biden, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and several members of Congress from Texas. She now runs the communications firm, Etienne & Saint.
She referenced an opinion piece she co-authored in the Houston Chronicle, in which she quoted one Black female voter, who said, "We as Black women give 92 percent of our vote to the Democratic Party, and we get nothing out of the deal."
"That's one example of what I think is a larger sentiment across Black women," she explained.
This, Etienne posited, is an "alarm warning for Talarico."
Why should Talarico be worried about this? According to Etienne, approximately 1.1 million registered Black voters in Texas are not voting. To pull off an upset in the traditionally solid red state, Etienne said Talarico will have to motivate that untapped voter base. The key to doing that, she said, is appealing to Black women.
When it comes to motivating the Democratic base, Etienne posited that "Black women aren't just another constituency."
"We are a force multiplier effect when it comes to Black voters," she said. "We have the ability to bring the entire community to – and we have proven that we do this every cycle after cycle – bring the entire community to the polls."
In other words, Etienne explained that "if the mood of Black women is low, then you lose an opportunity … to really reach and mobilize and engage and energize the rest of the Black community."
"That's the nut he's going to have to crack," she said.
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Dallas Jones, a Democratic strategist who served as the Texas political director for the 2020 Biden-Harris campaign, echoed Etienne's assessment. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Jones criticized Talarico supporters for pressuring Crockett to stump for him. Crockett has endorsed Talarico but has been notably absent from the campaign trail.
"There's rhetoric that's being turned up that she has to come and support him, and a lot of that is coming from people that support him," he noted. "So, what it translates to is people basically telling this accomplished, decorated, Black female member of Congress what she ought to do. And all that does is stoke flames and fires for her supporters, who are saying, ‘She really doesn't have to do anything. You won, you're the nominee, you come earn our vote, she doesn't have to help you do that.’"
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"There are millions of black Texans out there ready for the taking, ready to support the campaign … [but] every day that goes by there's an erosion of that support," Jones continued.
Jones said that he does not think Talarico’s controversial statements will have much of an impact on the Black vote in Texas "considering the alternative" is Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
"There will be a lot of energy and effort to weaponize those types of statements," he said. "But I truly don't think that it's going to have a huge impact."
"Black Texans that show up in November are not voting for Ken Paxton," Jones asserted. "The challenge is creating the enthusiasm to get enough of them to go and vote for him."
"He himself has admitted that he cannot win the state without Black voters," he continued, adding, "It's not a persuasion game, it's an enthusiasm game."
Fox News Digital reached out to Talarico's campaign for comment. Fox News Digital also reached out to Crockett's office and Paxton's campaign for comment.