What they're saying: "Tonight our campaign is shocking the nation," Talarico said Tuesday night in Austin.
The latest: Crockett issued a statement Wednesday conceding the race to Talarico and called on the party to unify behind him.
As of noon CST Wednesday, Talarico had 52.8% of the vote, and Crockett 45.9%, per results from 92% of polling locations statewide according to the Texas Secretary of State's Office.
The intrigue: Voting in Dallas County, Crockett's home base, was wracked with confusion.
Ahead of the election, Dallas and Williamson counties had closed centralized voting centers, which had been commonly used by voters of both parties, at the
behest of local Republicans.Some voters reported scrambling to figure out their polling place and district court judges
extended polling hours in both counties.But late Tuesday the Texas Supreme Court
ordered the counties to separate any votes cast by voters not in line by 7pm."I can tell you now that people have been disenfranchised," Crockett told supporters Tuesday night.
Context: Texas has not elected a Democratic candidate statewide since 1994.
Follow the money: Ahead of the final weeks of the race, Talarico's campaign had $4.8 million and Crockett's campaign had $3.5 million in cash on hand, per the most recent campaign finance filings.
On top of that, millions of dollars
flooded the race from political action committees supporting the candidates.Talarico for TX Senate and Lone Star Rising PAC, a pro-Talarico committee, were slated to spend about $16 million in advertising over the final month of the race, per data from advertising analytics site AdImpact.Over the same period, Crockett for TX Senate was scheduled to spend about $3.5 million, with another $500,000 from the Texas Forward PAC, per AdImpact.
What's next: Talarico will face the winner of a Republican primary runoff between U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Flashback: Colbert defies CBS over interview with Texas Senate candidate
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