Beto O'Rourke

So I think it's both a turnout issue and a persuasion issue.

And I think we have an amazing candidate at the top of the ticket who can help us accomplish both.

I think to some degree, it's just a function of a contested primary, which we haven't had in Texas in as long as I can remember.

There nominally have been

primary contest but there really hasn't been one like this where where you have two people who can raise you know more money than god who have almost universal name id amongst democrats and as you pointed out have two really distinct theories of the case whether it's persuasion or whether it's turnout and and stylistically i don't know that you could pick

two more polar opposites than jasmine crockett and james talarico i think it was a great thing honestly having that spirited contest drew in precisely the kinds of voters who've been missing from our politics and our elections in the state of texas overwhelmingly young people who turned out at much higher rates in this primary than they ever have before

in the state of Texas, and if we can keep them engaged now that their interest is peaked after this contest, if James Tallarico can consolidate that support, especially from Jasmine Crockett's base and the folks who are most excited about her, I think this just adds more wind

So I'm not perhaps as disturbed as you might think I would be by the nature of that contest.

I think overall it was a good thing.

It's a reflection if the market is telling us something that this is a very winnable seat.

So I take all this as a good sign.

And David, it's not just because I'm an optimist.

It's because I really see it.

in the turnout where you had really tough contests on both sides, but 100,000 plus more Democrats voted in Texas on March 3rd than Republicans.

That never happens.

It happened in 2020 only because we had a contested Democratic presidential primary, but that's the anomaly.

Otherwise, this never happens in Texas.

So that many more Democrats turning out in the primary bodes very well for November.

You know, it's really the Wild West out here, David.

There's no Texas Democratic Party relative to, say, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party or the California Democratic Party.