James Talarico has leapt ahead in the Texas Senate Democratic primary with a 9-point lead over Rep. Jasmine Crockett, according to new polling from Emerson College released Thursday.
The data shows Talarico, a state representative from Austin, leading the Dallas Congress member by 47 percent to 38 percent ahead of their March 3 primary.
When Crockett jumped into the race in December, her national prominence and fundraising strength had some expecting her to take the lead in the primary. But Talarico has poured money into his campaign and built a large online following.
On the GOP side, the poll shows a tight race: Attorney General Ken Paxton leads Sen. John Cornyn by 1 point, at 27 to 26 percent, with Rep. Wesley Hunt sitting at 16 percent support. The race is widely expected to head to a May 26 runoff since no candidate is close to 50 percent support, which would extend the brutal GOP primary.
Democrats have long pined for winning statewide in Texas yet repeatedly fallen short. The party believes it can ride an anticipated electoral wave fueled by opposition to Trump to finally achieve that goal. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told POLITICO earlier this week that he views Texas as a “very possible” pickup opportunity but didn’t list it among the party’s top four offensive opportunities.
There’s a stark racial split between Talarico’s and Crockett’s blocs of support. Talarico brings in majority support from Hispanic and white voters, while the large majority of Black voters back Crockett, according to the poll’s findings. Men support Talarico 52 percent to 30 percent, while women are evenly divided between the two, at 44 and 43 percent respectively.
Many Republican voters remain outraged at Cornyn for supporting a bipartisan gun control bill during the Biden administration and have threatened to vote him out of office as punishment. Paxton, Texas’ top attorney for a decade, has strong support from the MAGA base, despite facing multiple state and federal investigations.
Democrats are hoping that Paxton will win the GOP primary, believing his political baggage would turn off voters in the general election. The poll shows both Talarico and Crockett tied with Paxton at 46 percent in a hypothetical matchup. Cornyn would fare better: He would lead Talarico 47 to 44 percent, and Crockett 48 to 43 percent.
The economy stands as the top issue for Texas voters, followed by immigration and threats to democracy.
More than 2,400 lives have reportedly been lost amid violent protests in Iran.
President Donald Trump has vocally backed the protesters, who are attempting to topple the regime that’s been in place since 1979.
And now, Iranian leaders are using some very strong words to caution Trump and the US against getting involved.
U.S. President Donald Trump tours the assembly line at the Ford River Rouge Complex on January 13, 2026 in Dearborn, Michigan. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
On Wednesday, Iranian state television aired a segment featuring footage from the attempted assassination of Trump that took place during a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2008.
“This time it [the bullet] will not miss the target,” read a message written on the screen in Persian.
“Islamic republic state TV just crossed a red line,” wrote journalist and Middle East policy expert Emilt Schrader on X (formerly Twitter).
“Airing an image of President Trump after an attempted assassination along with a Persian message reading ‘this time, the bullet won’t miss.’ This is a direct threat against the President.”
People gather during protest on January 8, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Anonymous/Getty Images)
The threat seems to be a response to Trump’s comments indicating that he’s considering sending the US military into Iran.
“HELP IS ON THE WAY,” the president posted on his social media accounts on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters this week, Trump stated on more than one occasion that he’s considered the possibility of US military intervention in Iran.
As for the situation on the ground in Iran, there are indicators that things are improving, such as new reports that air space over the country has reopened, and planned executions of protesters have been canceled.
Conversely, US personnel at a military base in Qatar were told to evacuate thid week, seemingly in response to the situation in Iran.
US President Donald Trump speaks to the press upon returning to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on January 13, 2026. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)
“The IMO reaffirms that the State of Qatar continues to implement all necessary measures to safeguard the security and safety of its citizens and residents as a top priority, including actions related to the protection of critical infrastructure and military facilities,” Qatar’s International Media Office said of the move on X.
Trump has yet to respond to the threat issued on Iranian state TV.
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available
Lainey Wilson was enjoying some rare downtime at home with her dog hippie and her fiancé Devlin “Duck” Hodges when she learned she had just scored her ninth No. 1 hit at country radio with “Somewhere Over Laredo.” While celebrating this achievement with more than 300 members of the Nashville community on Tuesday night, she reflected on the song’s journey and shared her goals for 2026.
The songstress told Country Now and other outlets that the idea for the dreamy track came to hitmaking Nashville songwriter, Andy Albert while he was grilling on his back porch.
“I was grilling on my back porch, just kind of ruminating over some kind of thought. I don’t know where it came from, but I thought about ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow,’ the original, and that song just means so much to me,” Albert explained. “My mom used to sing that to me as a little baby, and I sang it at my grandpa’s funeral. It was his favorite song. And I just started thinking about that song itself, and maybe there’s some way to put a little new twist in that.”
Dallas Wilson, Andy Albert, Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson celebrate “Somewhere Over Laredo” going No. 1 at country radio
He later brought this idea to another one of Wilson’s frequent collaborators, Trannie Anderson. The pair of songwriters were looking for a way to fill some down time while waiting in line for a ride at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL, which prompted Albert to share the unique idea of “Somewhere Over Laredo.”
“Andy threw out that hook and we started talking about different ways to write it, different storylines you could have. And we started it in Nashville a week later, and then next part of the journey, brought it to Lainey,” Anderson recalls.
The idea eventually reached Wilson during a trip to Montana. She remembers looking out at the beautiful scenic setting when she heard the start of the song for the first time and realizing in that moment that they were cooking up something special.
She shared, “Trannie’s like, ‘Man, Andy started working on this idea,’ and she starts keeping time on the side of her chair. No instrument, just singing it. And I knew when what they had started on sounded that good, just by tapping on the side of a vinyl chair, that we had something.”
The remainder of the song unfolded with the help of Wilson alongside Dallas Wilson, Edgar Yipsel Harburg and Harold Arlen. Drawing inspiration from one of the most iconic songs, “Over The Rainbow,” originally sung by Judy Garland for the 1939 film, Wizard of Oz, Wilson’s rendition of the track captures the bittersweet realization of a rodeo romance meant to drift apart, while also tipping her hat to small towns across Texas and the rest of the country.
Since she is now in a joyful and loving relationship, the Louisiana native admits she had to tap into emotions from previous connections in order to truly embrace this narrative.
“I think as a songwriter, there’s moments in time where you have to step back into a pair of shoes that you wore long time ago. Because the truth is right now I’m in a happy, healthy relationship, about to get married, and so I’m definitely not singing about him,” she said with a smile.
“But when I think about the people who are coming to my shows, it’s important for me to have a little bit of something for everybody. It’s also important for me to have lived it at some point in time in order for me to believe it, to tell the story and also have them believe it.”
Lainey Wilson; Somewhere Over Laredo
“Somewhere Over Laredo” saw immediate success and became the biggest streaming debut of her career. It was the most added song at country radio upon impact and garnered over 1.16 million streams across platforms in its first 24 hours. It later served as the lead single from the deluxe edition of her 2024 album, Whirlwind.
Speaking on the moment Wilson learned it had soared to the top of the charts, she revealed, “We were watching it pretty close. And I will say my radio team really, they did their thing with this. They rolled their sleeves up and got it across the finish line. And yeah, I’ve got a great team.”
The song has now earned her two of three nominations for the 2026 GRAMMY awards. Going into the coveted evening next month, Wilson is up for Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song for “Somewhere Over Laredo” and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the collaboration “Trailblazer” with Reba McEntire & Miranda Lambert.
“It just means a lot to me that people in the industry think [it’s] as good as what we thought it was the day that we finished it. And I’m just so thankful that you were blessed with this idea at your grill,” Wilson joked, looking to her co-writer.
Between the success of this single and all the other milestone accomplishments she crossed off in 2025, it’s going to be a hard year to top. However, in true Lainey Wilson fashion, she is feeling fired up about 2026 and noted that new music has already been in the works for some time.
“We’re already cooking some stuff up. To tell you the truth, we were already in the kitchen cooking it up before ‘Whirlwind’ was even out, which was a year and a half ago now,” she admitted. “I feel like we’re always writing because I don’t feel like I’m myself if I’m not creating and writing. I feel like that’s the thing that gets me through all the busyness and all the other parts of the job that exist. And so I think people are really going to love what we’ve been working on.”
She added that these forthcoming songs are going to show a new side to her artistry while also staying true to her roots and the real experiences she has through life.
“The more experience I have, the more I realize that I’ve got more to say and share and it’s going to be good.”
Photo Courtesy Lainey Wilson
Wilson added, “I feel like I’m also right where I’m supposed to be and feeling more creative than ever. And it’s good. 2026 is going to be an exciting year.”
Fans already have plenty to get excited about this year with Wilson, from her headline tour hitting New Zealand, Australia, and beyond, to her acting debut in the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s Reminders of Him.
Plus, she’s set to join Chris Stapleton on select dates of his All-American Road Show and take the stage at major festivals, including RODEOHOUSTON.
Immediately, fans began casting doubt upon whether Rosemarie is serious about allowing Big Ed into her presence again.
We all remember how he treated her on 90 Day Fiance: Before The 90 Days.
Rose was a struggling single mom, younger than Ed’s daughter (Tiffany). In other words, she’s exactly Ed’s type.
He harassed her over her breath, her STI status (while declining to take his own test), all while lying to her about multiple things.
When Ed finally came clean, Rose dumped him. He went on to out her as bisexual during the Tell All special. Classy guy!
On the 90 Day Fiance; Before The 90 Days Season 4 Tell All special, Big Ed Brown outed Rosemarie Vega as bisexual. Classy guy! (Image Credit: TLC)
Since then, Ed went on to absolutely terrorize Liz Woods for years. (They finally broke up for good)
With that in mind, commenters are casting serious doubts upon Rose’s threat to make the worst mistake of her life.
Some accused her of “trolling” her followers.
Other suggested that she’s baiting for some other reason, like to draw more eyes to one of her projects.
Whatever kind of engagement bait this may be, some are considering unfollowing her. Big Ed is brand poison for anything but 90 Day Fiance itself.
Speaking to the ’90 Day: The Single Life’ confessional camera, Big Ed Brown spins a conspiracy theory about how a castmate was trying to sabotage him. He wasn’t. (Image Credit: TLC)
What is this really about?
Assuming that Rosemarie Vega has not lost her senses, what is going on?
There is speculation that she is angling for a return to 90 Day Fiance in some capacity.
For example, she and Big Ed could hypothetically hash things out on 90 Day: The Last Resort.
90 Day Fiance fans overall want good things for Rose. We cannot honestly say the same for Ed.
Anyone willing to appear on camera with that creep deserves a generous paycheck.
Brad Paisley’s son shared an (alcohol-free) drink with Mick Jagger — and asked him a question that had Paisley bursting with pride. Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
Brad Paisley’s son shared an (alcohol-free) drink with Mick Jagger — and asked him a question that had Paisley bursting with pride. Continue reading…Country Music News – Taste of Country
The New York Giants reversed more than a decade of misfortune overnight when they hired John Harbaugh, the coach they desperately needed.FOX Sports Digital
