Democrats Split Over Running With Kamala Harris as Texas Senate Race Exposes Deeper Coalition Problems

Democratic candidates can't agree on what to do with Kamala Harris this election cycle. The Hill's reporting on the 2026 midterms shows the divide, with Texas's Senate race becoming the sharpest example of the party's broader identity problem.

Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek, running for Senate, told reporters this week he doesn't want Harris campaigning for him. Iowa gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, the state auditor, said the same about both Harris and former President Biden. Former Rep. Mary Peltola's Alaska Senate campaign voiced frustration after Harris's PAC sent a fundraising email on Peltola's behalf earlier this month, according to The Hill.

Other Democrats are doing the opposite. Harris joined a "Women for Ossoff" call for Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff's reelection campaign and posted a fundraising appeal to his Facebook page. Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said he was "grateful" for her endorsement after his primary win.

Democratic mega-donor John Morgan didn't mince words about the split. "She is a huge liability," he said, pointing to the Alaska episode as proof anyone with a real shot at winning should stay away. Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons, who was Harris's communications director as vice president, offered a gentler read: "The VP did very well in some places and didn't do great in others, and if you're in a state where she didn't perform well, it may not help you to have her campaign with you this fall."

Texas Is the Marquee Test

Nowhere is the Democratic coalition problem more visible than in Texas, where state Rep. James Talarico is trying to become the first Texas Democrat elected statewide in decades. He's running against Attorney General Ken Paxton in a race CNN reports is polling neck-and-neck, with Sen. Ted Cruz predicting it "could be decided by a point or two."

Talarico, a former seminary student who has described his Senate run as "another form of ministry" according to Breitbart News, is betting on a populist economic message and a promise to build a coalition beyond traditional Democratic voters.

That strategy hit a wall this month. MS NOW aired a segment featuring three Tarrant County women who identified as Republicans crossing over to support Talarico, and his campaign promoted the clip widely, according to the Daily Wire. But Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by Fox News Digital and the Daily Wire show one of the women, Mindy McClure, has made repeated ActBlue donations to Democratic candidates and groups since 2018, including the Lincoln Project and Harris's 2024 campaign. Another of the women, Erin Montgomery, hasn't voted in a Republican primary since at least 2017, according to the Daily Wire.

RNC Chairman Joe Gruters told Fox News Digital the crossover push is "a pipe dream," comparing it to "White Dudes for Kamala." RNC spokesman Zach Kraft was blunter, telling the Daily Wire the group is "as real as the six genders that Talarico claims exist."

The women themselves gave a different account on air. Montgomery said she felt "duped" by conservative messaging about public school curriculums and now feels "a chunk of responsibility" for backing officials she wants to see voted out. Allison Stiles said COVID-era school politics pushed her away from the party. Their explanation, that personal disillusionment moved them left over several years, isn't necessarily contradicted by older donation records, but it also doesn't match the campaign's framing of them as active Republicans defecting for Talarico specifically.

Black Voter Turnout Worries Come From Inside His Own Party

Talarico's bigger problem may be turnout, not optics. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who lost the March 3 Democratic primary to Talarico 52.4% to 46.2%, said on the "Front Page" podcast that she doesn't "feel like the excitement necessarily exists within the Black community right now." Crockett beat Talarico in the Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston areas and across East Texas counties with predominantly Black Democratic electorates, according to the Daily Signal.

Ashley Etienne, Harris's former communications director, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that Democratic operatives in Houston are concerned about "mild enthusiasm" among Black voters, and that the $25 million get-out-the-vote effort Talarico announced in July "has yet to start to flow." She also cited a warning that Elon Musk plans to spend nearly $200 million in Texas races this cycle, calling waiting until Labor Day to campaign with Black voters a losing strategy. Crockett endorsed Talarico the day after her primary loss but said in June she wouldn't actively campaign for him.

Paxton Has His Own Party Problems

Democrats aren't the only ones with internal friction. CNN reports Paxton is struggling to unify Texas Republicans after his May runoff win over longtime Sen. John Cornyn, appealing to the same Washington establishment he spent years fighting. Paxton told Fox News his campaign needs help "now" to start airing TV ads next month, and conservative radio host Michael Berry opened a recent interview by telling Paxton he's in "a tough race." Paxton's campaign says he now has 18 of 24 Texas House Republicans behind him, though neither Cornyn nor Crockett is actively campaigning for their party's nominee.

What happens next is a money question on both sides: whether Talarico's promised $25 million Black voter outreach actually launches before Labor Day, and whether national Republicans open their wallets wide enough for Paxton to match it on air.