Democrats Crockett, Talarico align on much in Texas Senate debate. Trump impeachment is different

Democrats Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico differed more on style than substance in their first debate for U.S. Senate in heavily Republican Texas, though they distinguished themselves somewhat on the future of ICE and impeachment of President Donald Trump.

Crockett, an outspoken second-term U.S. House member, and Talarico, a more soft-spoken four-term state representative, generally echoed each other on economic issues, health care and taxes.

Both called for a “fighter” in the role. Crockett, who is Black, said she was better positioned to attract disaffected Black voters, while Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian who often discusses his Christian faith, suggested he could net rural voters unhappy with Republicans.

The hour-long discussion, before hundreds of labor union members and their families at the Texas AFL-CIO political convention, served as an early preview for themes Democrats hoping to overtake the Republican majority in the Senate in November are likely to stress throughout the midterm campaign.

The nominee chosen in the March 3 primary will face the winner of a Republican contest between four-term Sen. John Cornyn, Rep. Wesley Hunt and state Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton.

Crockett said she would support impeachment proceedings against Trump, beginning with investigating his use of tariffs. Crockett has supported impeachment measures in the House.

“I think that there is more than enough to impeach Donald Trump,” Crockett said. “Ultimately, do I think we should go through the formal process? Absolutely.”

Talarico stopped short of suggesting whether he would support impeachment proceedings, except to say, “I think the administration has certainly committed impeachable offenses.”

Instead, Talarico said he would, as a senator, weigh any evidence presented during an impeachment trial fairly, given that the Senate does not bring impeachment charges but votes to convict or acquit. “I’m not going to articulate articles of impeachment here at a political debate,” he said.

Both candidates condemned the shooting of a man in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers Saturday, and ICE's heavy presence in the city, though Talarico was more adamant about cutting funding to the agency.

Both said they support bringing impeachment proceedings against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, under whom ICE serves. But Crockett was less specific about cutting their funding.

“We absolutely have to clean house,” she said. “Whatever that looks like, I'm willing to do it.”

Talarcio more specifically said of ICE funding, “We should take that money back and put it in our communities where it belongs.”

While both candidates said the position requires “a fighter,” Crockett cast herself as a high-profile adversarial figure while Talarico said he had been confronting Republicans in the Texas Statehouse.

“I am here to fight the system, the system that is holding so many of us down,” said Crockett, a 44-year-old Dallas civil rights lawyer and former public defender who has built her national profile with a candid style marked by viral moments.

“It is about tapping into the rawness of this moment,” Crockett said of what Democratic primary voters are seeking.

Talarico, a former public school teacher, cast himself as someone who had been actively opposing the Republican-controlled state legislature.

He pointed to his opposition to Texas' Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's agenda in Austin, notably on tax credits for Texans who choose private schools for their children.

“We need a proven fighter for our schools, for our values, for our constituents in the halls of power,” he said. “I think we need a teacher in the United States Senate.”

Crockett and Talarico generally aligned on domestic policy, including support for higher taxes.

Both candidates proposed ending tariffs as a way of lowering consumer prices.

“We have to roll back these tariffs,” Crockett said. “It’s hurting farmers and ranchers who are filing a record number of bankruptcies.”

Talarico was more direct about his support for higher taxes on the nation's wealthiest earners.

“What I will not compromise on is making sure these billionaires pay for all that they have gotten from this country,” Talarico said, though he stopped short of suggesting how much he would seek to raise taxes.

Crockett voted last summer against the tax-cut and spending-reduction bill passed by the Republican-controlled Congress and signed by Trump. The bill extended tax cuts enacted during Trump's first administration.

She also said she supported Medicare for all, a government-backed health insurance plan for all Americans.

“If we truly believe that everyone should have access to health care, we can make that a reality with bold leadership,” she said.

Talarico supports the concept, and spoke favorably about universal basic income, without suggesting he would specifically support it in the Senate.

“I'm very encouraged by some pilot programs of universal basic income,” he said.

This story was first published on Jan. 24, 2026. It was published again on Jan. 28, 2026, to correct that a man was fatally shot in Minneapolis by federal officers on Saturday, not Sunday, and to delete an incorrect reference to Rep. Jasmine Crockett possibly being in a position to promote impeachment measures against President Donald Trump as a member of the House Judiciary Committee if Democrats win control of the chamber in November. Crockett is not seeking reelection to her House seat in November.

Primary candidates for U.S. Senate, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, right, and Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, left, participate in a debate during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)

Primary candidate for U.S. Senate, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, participates in a debate with Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)

U.S. Senate primary candidate, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, participates in a debate with Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)

Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, left, shakes hands with Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, prior a debate during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)

Democratic primary candidates for U.S. Senate, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, stands on stage during a sound check prior to a debate during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)

Democratic primary candidates for U.S. Senate, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, left, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, right, participate in a debate during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)

This combination of photos shows Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, at a rally on Aug. 16, 2025, in Chicago, left, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, on Capitol Hill, Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington, right. (AP Photo/Talia Sprague, left, Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Arizona guard Jaden Bradley had just emerged from the locker room, his left wrist tightly taped after a collision left him holding it in pain. Koa Peat was mired in foul trouble, and Houston was making a big run in the Big 12 Tournament title game

All season long, the second-ranked Wildcats had demonstrated their talent.

On Saturday night, they proved their resilience.

Brayden Burries broke out of a slump with 21 points, including a pair of clinching free throws with 8.3 seconds left. Peat also had 21 points and Bradley, who hit the semifinal game-winner against Iowa State, finished with 13 as Arizona held on for a 79-74 victory over the fifth-ranked Cougars in a rematch of last year's championship game.

“They're just resilient, you know? And they just have this unbreakable spirit,” Tommy Lloyd, the Big 12 coach of the year, said of his Wildcats. “These guys do an amazing job of figuring it out in tough moments.”

It's a talent that should serve the Wildcats (32-2) well going into next week's NCAA Tournament. They've won nine straight since their only two losses of the season, and six of those wins have come against ranked opponents.

“We got in the Big 12 and I learned real quick we were looking up and chasing a program, and it was Houston,” Lloyd said. “And not that we were fixated on the chase, but it gave us a great barometer for what we felt we had to do in our program.”

The Wildcats, who lost to the Cougars 72-64 in their Big 12 title game debut a year ago, led 75-66 with just over a minute left on Saturday night before Mercy Miller and Milos Uzan hit 3s on consecutive possessions to give Houston a chance.

But when Peat missed a jumper with 22 seconds to go, Arizona big man Motiejus Krivas gathered the rebound and was fouled under the bucket. The 7-foot-2 junior from Lithuania calmly made both free throws to extend the Wildcats' lead.

Kingston Flemings and Miller missed layups at the other end for Houston (28-6), and by the time Miller was fouled and made two free throws, there was just 13.2 seconds to go. Burries was fouled on the inbound pass and put away the game.

“You had the two best teams in the Big 12 fighting down the stretch. Either team could have won the game," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “Sometimes it comes down to a break. Sometimes it comes down to a whistle. Sometimes it comes down to a bounce. When two teams are evenly matched like they were today, that's what it comes down to.”

The championship matchup — one befitting of a Final Four — was close throughout the first half until Burries, who'd missed 11 straight shots going back to a quarterfinal win over UCF, finally got hot for Arizona. The All-Big 12 guard hit four in a row late in the first half, scoring the Wildcats' last 10 points and giving them a 44-36 advantage at the break.

They stretched the lead to 15 points in the second half as the game became more physical.

In a span of a few minutes, Bradley hurt his wrist in a collision and briefly went to the locker room. Peat was slow getting up after he was hammered on a shot. And during a scrap for a loose ball, five bodies hit the floor, and when a jump ball was finally called, Burries and Houston forward Kalifa Sakho laid on the court unwilling to let go.

Houston was still trailing 59-44 when it finally went on its big run, scoring 14 straight points and nearly drawing even.

But the unflappable Burries answered with a three-point play, Ivan Kharchenko scored on three straight trips down floor for the Wildcats, and they managed to regain just enough breathing room to survive all the way to the finish.

“Arizona is really good,” Sampson said. “If Arizona had lost to Houston, I'd have said the same thing. ‘Arizona lost to a really good team. There’s no shame in Arizona losing to Houston.' And I'll say the same thing the other way. Arizona is really good.”

Houston will likely be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and play first- and second-round games in Oklahoma City. Perhaps more importantly, the Cougars would play their regional semifinal in Houston should they advance.

Arizona should have a short trip to San Diego for its opening weekend games in the NCAA Tournament. If the Wildcats advance, the projected No. 1 seed would head up the coast to San Jose, California for the second weekend.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Houston's Joseph Tugler (11) chases a loose ball between Arizona's Tobe Awaka (30) and Anthony Dell'Orso (3) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the championship of the Big 12 Conference tournament Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)