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McALLEN — U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett was running an hour behind schedule Saturday afternoon as dozens of supporters crammed into one of the banquet rooms here at the DoubleTree Suites.

As her U.S. Senate campaign races toward the March Primary, Crockett visited Brownsville and planned a meet and greet back in McAllen at The Gremlin. And despite the congresswoman’s tardiness, spirits were high as local leaders took to the stage to address the crowd.

Hidalgo County Clerk Arturo Guajardo described the race as an important one given the current events, including the escalating nature of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation raids here and across the country.

“If you are not enraged by what you’re seeing, then you probably shouldn’t even be here,” Guajardo said. “The only way we’re going to be able to change this is with real, real energy. It’s going to take special candidates today. In today’s arena, it’s a full contact sport now, and that is why I’m extremely attracted (to) Congresswoman Crockett. I don’t know if you guys have seen the feistiness — she’s a firecracker and it’s going to take that type of energy to bring about change.”

Guajardo was joined onstage by Hidalgo County District Attorney Terry Palacios, Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Jaime “Jerry” Munoz, and Hidalgo County District Clerk Laura Hinojosa.

“As a female elected official, I can tell you that it’s so different for us versus a man,” Hinojosa said. “Sorry, but it is so true. We are held to a different level. We can’t say all the things that they can say, but Jasmine does, and that’s what we need. We need somebody who is not afraid to get up there and fight for us.”

A few minutes after 2 p.m., Crockett entered the room to a resounding ovation.

“I love you, Jasmine!” one supporter yelled from the crowd as Crockett took her place behind a podium in the corner of the room.

“I love you back, and I am so sorry,” she said. “We’ve been doing a lot of running around this whole state and dealing with a crazy situation in DC. But I do want y’all to know that when it came time to figure out exactly what we were going to do and where we were going to go, the very first place that I wanted to go on this campaign was to come right here.”

Crockett addressed the crowd for just under 10 minutes. She called for unity, describing the division she has seen as a problem affecting the entire country.

“I want to be clear that whether I am in Texas, or whether it’s someone who’s in California, whether it’s someone who is in Michigan, we are all in the same sinking ship,” Crockett said. “We’ve got to understand how important it is for us just to center what unites us instead of focusing on those small divisions.”

Following her remarks, Crockett invited her supporters to take pictures with her before being escorted to another room in the hotel where she sat down with local media.

There, she told reporters that she chose to make the Valley a priority on her campaign to ensure people don’t feel ignored and to inspire voters to go to the polls.

Crockett’s concern comes after President Donald Trump’s historic victory in the 2024 presidential election, which saw him win all four counties in the Valley, historically a blue region in Texas.

“I do want to get into spaces that typically don’t get attention and make sure that they know. And it’s important for me, and I’m glad that they said it before I got here, for people to know that I showed up before I ever needed anything,” she said, referring to previous trips to the Valley to campaign for Beto O’Rourke and Colin Allred.

Crockett said that she is also trying to reach voters who may question the tenacity of the Democratic Party.

“If you’ve noticed, we talk about being ‘Texas Tough,’” she said, referencing her campaign slogan. “One of the things that we have seen over and over is that people in general want somebody who is strong, and a lot of times the Democratic brand is not necessarily branded as being strong. A lot of times it’s associated with weakness. People don’t associate me with being weak. So we knew that we wanted to play on that.”

She acknowledged the diversity of the state of Texas, which she described as “not a monolith.” She said that she understands that there are differences in the Latino cultures of someone from the Valley as opposed to someone from North Texas.

“One of the things that I think I excel at is that people know I’m a politician. They know I know how to do that part, but then I have this kind of cultural aspect because I’m actually just a very real person who just got frustrated like most people are right now,” Crockett said. “We want to make sure that we’re bringing culture in, and to me, that means that you are actually meeting people where they are, instead of saying, ‘Oh, everybody come out to this political thing.’ No, you may see me at the flea market, you may see me at the local mom and pop store, or you may see me at the local concert. We are going to intentionally do that.”

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