Outspoken Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett, who was quickly rose in ranks in the Democratic Party, could soon be relinquishing her set in the lower chamber.
But Crockett doesn’t appear to be headed out the door anytime soon as the move could be a springboard to a promotion to the Senate.
According to multiple reports, Crockett is expected to launch a U.S. Senate campaign as early as Monday afternoon, which is the deadline for candidates to file for the state’s March 3 primary.
Earlie today, one of the two Democrats already running for the Senate abandoned his bid, which apparently opened the door for Crockett to aim for one of the Lone Star State’s top seats.
Former Rep. Colin Allred, who was making his second straight bid for the Senate in Texas, announced he was ending his campaign and instead would launch a congressional campaign as he seeks to return to the House.
But Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, a former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian, remains in the Senate primary, setting up a likely face-off between two surging contenders with formidable fundraising.
Many insiders expect Crockett to seek the Senate seat and jump into a contested race, which, on the Republican side, includes Sen. John Cornyn and GOP primary rivals Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. House Rep. Wesley Hunt.
The potential Senate contest in Texas is one of the most closely watched Senate showdowns as Democrats try to win back the chamber’s majority in next year’s midterms.
Crockett told CNN this weekend that she’s made out two cashier checks — one if she jumps into the Senate campaign and one to submit if she files for re-election in the House.
Crockett’s announcement is scheduled for 90 minutes before the final deadline to submit one of the checks, according to Fox News.
Crockett has teased a possible Senate run for weeks, telling MS NOW on Sunday that “I am closer to yes than I am to no.”
She has said she’s commissioned polling to make her case for a Senate run in Texas, where no Democrat has won a statewide election in over three decades.
In another sign that she’s expected to launch a Senate run, Crockett told the Dallas Morning News that she called both Allred and Talarico to discuss her polling.
Monday’s filing deadline comes just a few days after the Supreme Court upheld a new congressional map passed by the GOP-dominated Texas legislature and signed into law by longtime Republican Gov. Greg Abbott that creates five more right-leaning House districts in Texas
And one of the Texas Democrats whose district had been dramatically altered, Rep. Marc Veasey, had reportedly been discussing with Crockett a plan where he would file for her current House seat shortly after she files to run for the Senate.
The 44-year-old Crockett won her seat in 2022 after longtime Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, who was retiring, hand-picked her as his successor in Congress.
Crockett has become one of the most well-known Democratic politicians in the country the past couple of years, thanks to her viral jabs at Republicans and her verbal sparing on social media with Trump, who has repeatedly questioned her intelligence.
While her expected Senate run will likely excite many Democrats, her frequent push-back against GOP politicians may energize Republicans.
Among her biggest blunders, Crockett called Abbott, who is partially paralyzed and uses a wheelchair, “Gov. Hot Wheels.”
Crockett has also compared Trump to Adolf Hitler on multiple occasions while accusing aspects of the Republican Party of fascism.