‘I feel like there are gonna be a lot of voters who want specifics,’ one volunteer told the group, which Crockett’s campaign has collaborated with
Left-wing Texas Senate candidate Jasmine Crockett has collaborated with a group of her youngest and most enthusiastic supporters, Gen Z for Crockett, in flashy campaign videos and fundraising appeals. Inside Gen Z for Crockett’s group chat, however, members aren’t so convinced by Crockett’s campaign, spending much of their time complaining that Crockett appears directionless with no clear policy positions or core message.
The Washington Free Beacon joined the 26-member Signal chat, which is administered by Kenna Dorn, the deputy director for the group’s social media pages. The group effectively exists to coordinate volunteer opportunities for Crockett. But the chat often veers into other topics, like Crockett’s lack of concrete policy proposals.
“I guess, when we’re out in the community trying to gather support for her, how do we convince them that her affordability policies are better than everyone else’s policies?” wrote one member, identified as Joey LC. “I feel like there are gonna be a lot of voters who want specifics.”
It’s a widely held belief within the group. Another member, identified as Kam, wrote on Jan. 15: “Like do we have a game plan to turn this campaign around? Someone please tell her to focus on policies during the debate and not cussing out trump. I know we don’t have the answers, but I’m concerned.”
The group launched days after Crockett, 44, kicked off her Senate campaign on Dec. 8. While it consists of volunteers, Crockett has recognized the group in campaign videos showing young people posing in front of her campaign bus and toting campaign merchandise. The group’s leader, Dorn, says she lives in Wisconsin and is “highly educated on analyzing voting behavior’s [sic] electorally.” She also describes Crockett as “one of my mentors.”
As a younger—and notoriously online—Democrat, winning over Gen Z voters should be a strength for Crockett. But just eight days after the Gen Z for Crockett group chat kicked off, members began expressing concerns with Crockett’s campaign and praising her opponent, James Talarico, the 36-year-old state lawmaker and seminarian known for his own social media presence—and for declaring “God is nonbinary.”
“Does anyone know when they’re gonna release the issues page on the website?” the member Joey LC wrote Dec. 30. He never received an answer. The next message came from an administrator identified only as “Christian” a week later. He ignored Joey LC’s question and instead offered volunteer opportunities.
Criticism intensified soon after. On Jan. 12, Kevin Watson, a high school senior, shared a TikTok video from Texas political commentator Nicholas.Politics calling Crockett’s Senate campaign “directionless.”
“I am so down bad for Jasmine Crockett, but her Senate campaign is bad. Like really bad,” the TikToker said. “It doesn’t have a core message and I’m just really confused.”
“Instead of policy and consistent, serious messaging, she’s talking about celebrities,” he added. “Instead of consistent conversation about the cost of living, she’s talking about the clubs that she went to in Houston.”
Later that day, Kam asked, “Does anyone know why Jasmine doesn’t have her policies on her website? This seems like the next thing they are trying to smear her with.”
Joey LC replied, “Yeah, [not going to lie]. The fact that Talarico beat us to the punch in this one will put us at a disadvantage. We either need to post our issues website soon or not at all and focus solely on anti-maga [sic] messaging.”
“[T]he other candidate,” South Houston resident Lisa Lewis added, “seems to be doing so well with huge crowds.”
The chat’s administrators remained silent throughout the exchange.
More than a month after Crockett’s campaign launch, the Democrat’s official campaign website does not include an issues page outlining her policy positions. It has a “Why I’m Running” section that describes her as a “fighter” but does not detail policy positions.
Crockett is known more for sparking controversy than crafting policy. She’s dubbed wheelchair-bound Texas governor Greg Abbott (R.) “Governor Hot Wheels” and attacked Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds’s interracial marriage. Donalds is black and “married to a white woman and so you think that whitewashed you,” Crockett said last year. She did not disclose whether she believes Kamala Harris is “whitewashed” for marrying a white man.
Recent polling suggests that Gen Z for Crockett’s criticism of that strategy is valid. An Emerson College survey published Jan. 15 showed Crockett trailing Talarico by 9 points, a major shift from a December poll that put her 8 points ahead.
The poll prompted Gen Z for Crockett member Joey LC to express concern that Talarico was “gaining steam.” He asked the administrators if they knew “what the campaign has cooking up in the coming weeks? What are y’all’s thoughts?”
Christian replied the next day, marking the first time an administrator weighed in on the concerns.
“I don’t have all the big details yet, but I do know there’s a lot in the works and some things rolling out soon,” Christian said. “From what I’ve heard, the next few weeks should be pretty active.”
Neither the Crockett campaign nor Dorn returned requests for comment.
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