GOP seizes on Dem civil war as progressives jump into key 2026 Senate races: ‘They’re in shambles’
Deirdre Heavey and Paul Steinhauser
Fox News
December 18, 2025
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“The Democratic Party, they’re in shambles everywhere around the country — and no place more obvious than Texas,” National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital. “Jasmine getting in this race is great news.”
For Republicans, Crockett’s rise supports their argument that Democrats are veering too far left to compete in red and purple states. Her campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s comment request.
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Liam Kerr, a Democratic strategist and co-founder of the centrist group Welcome, published an October report titled, “Deciding to Win,” warning that Democrats risk alienating voters by embracing far-left positions.
“Any Democrat who can do math should be worried,” Kerr told Fox News Digital, arguing that “it’s not just losing this race.”
“It’s also damaging the overall party brand, hurting candidates down-ballot, and losing the muscles you build that focus on persuading voters,” he said.
Crockett has gone viral for her public missteps and gaffes, from calling Gov. Greg Abbott, “Governor Hot Wheels,” to referring to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., as a “bleach blonde bad built butch body,” during a House Oversight Committee hearing.
“When you explicitly say we don’t need Trump voters to win, you’re not only denying mass, you’re denying an opportunity for voters to consider Democrats for other races and in the future,” Kerr said.
Kerr added that “centrists need to be off the sidelines with the same energy that the left is bringing to these fights.”
“Republicans have developed a very clear framework for voters to view Democrats as elite, out-of-touch, and extreme,” Kerr explained. “Every time a high-profile Democrat says something out of touch or extreme, it just adds credence to that, and it’s like the swing voter is permanently on a jury, where Republicans have a strong prosecutor and Democrats have terrible witnesses, and you just keep giving more pieces of evidence that you’re guilty of extremism.”
And Republicans who spoke to Fox News Digital this week seemed to be following that very playbook.
“All across the country, what we’re seeing is Jasmine is being repeated, replicated all across the country,” Scott said. “Socialism is in vogue in the Democrat Party. It is a sad day around the country for those who believe that the Democrat Party was going to have a comeback. They’re not coming back. We’re going to win, keep the majority, expand the majority all across the map.”
Yet, the Democratic Party has claimed to be on the “offense” following gubernatorial wins in Virginia and New Jersey this year and after losing a ruby red Tennessee district by nine points in December’s special election.
But Scott, who is the Republican spearheading efforts to maintain the Senate majority, said the buck doesn’t stop at Crockett.
“The Democrats, you look at who’s in their primaries – cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs,” Scott said. “Michigan, a devastating manifestation. Three Democrats fighting tooth and nail to lose to Mike Rogers.”
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment regarding the implication that he is losing control of Senate Democrats.
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