House Speaker Mike Johnson Cheers Jasmine Crockett’s Texas Senate Bid as He Predicts GOP Victory

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) expressed his “absolute delight” Wednesday that Representative Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, has launched her campaign for the U.S. Senate in Texas, calling her a “left-wing firebrand” who will become the Democratic Party’s face.

When asked about Crockett at the Capitol, Johnson rubbed his hands together with glee, stating: “I’m absolutely delighted that Jasmine Crockett is running for Senate in Texas. I think it’s one of the greatest things that’s happened to the Republican Party in a long, long time.”

Johnson also referred to New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, saying: “She is the face of the Democratic Party, she and Mamdani. Good luck with that.” He added: “I want her to have the largest, loudest microphone that she can every single day, and we look forward to having that election down there.”

Johnson expressed confidence in a Republican victory for Texas’s 2026 Senate race, where incumbent Senator John Cornyn faces a primary challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Republicans. Shortly before Crockett announced her Senate campaign on Monday, former Representative Colin Allred, a Democrat, dropped his Senate bid to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Crockett will now compete against state representative James Talarico in the primary.

Crockett has become an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump over the past year, often drawing the president’s ire. Her campaign leveraged this tension by including audio clips from Trump attacking her and labeling her as having a “low IQ” in a launch video. Johnson asserted: “We are going to elect another Republican senator in Texas. Texas is a red state. The people of Texas are commonsense Americans, and what Jasmine is trying to sell will not be purchased by the folks of Texas. That is my prediction.”