Few politicians command audiences on TikTok large enough to rival traditional media outlets. But in the increasingly volatile Texas Senate race, two rising-star Democrats have built precisely that kind of reach, turning the platform into a central battleground in their primary contest.
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and State Representative James Talarico have TikTok followings that would be the envy of most national political figures. Crockett counts more than 2.4 million followers, placing her among the most followed members in Congress, behind just Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders. Talarico, a former middle school teacher from the Austin suburbs, is not far behind with more than 1.6 million followers on the platform.
Together, they have amassed the largest TikTok followings of any candidates in competitive statewide races this year, according to a TIME analysis, making the March 3 primary a test of which of their distinct approaches to leveraging viral attention will translate into electoral success in a state where Democrats have not won a Senate seat since 1988.
Crockett’s most watched TikTok lasts just five seconds. Filmed outside the Capitol, she delivers a profane dismissal of Elon Musk with a flicker of exasperation that feels calibrated for the scroll. “F—k off,” she says when asked what she would tell the former DOGE director. The clip from last February has been viewed more than 20 million times. One of Talarico’s most popular videos runs closer to a minute and a half. Standing at a lectern, he argues that “the biggest division in our politics is not left versus right, it’s top versus bottom,” casting inequality as a moral crisis. That video from last summer has drawn more than 15 million views.
