CHICAGO — New Rep. Jasmine Crocket has made headlines more than once since she was sworn in last year and joined the House Oversight Committee, a highly partisan forum where she clashed with Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Crockett’s speech at the Democratic National Committee convention on Monday night — in which she spoke tearfully of the self-doubt she felt during her first meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris — will likely boost her profile. And Crockett is not looking forward to it.
“I’m not thrilled about that part at all,” said Crockett, Democrat of Texas, after leaving the United Center stage. “It’s still very difficult for me to get used to the fact that people even know who I am.”
Still, it’s important to have contact with young girls, Crockett said, especially amid growing excitement about Harris potentially becoming the first female president. Crockett said she recently met a 15-year-old girl at an airport who began to cry when she met her.
“I thought to myself, ‘Seriously? Like we’re crying because of me?'” she said. “But it was a young black girl, and I can only imagine how proud all girls of all races will be when we finally break this last glass ceiling in this country.”
Crockett’s team sponsored a party in the 30th District so her supporters at home could watch her big appearance on Monday. In her nearly 10-minute speech, Crockett, who worked as a criminal defense attorney and served one term in the Texas legislature before being elected to the House in 2022, highlighted Harris’ record as a prosecutor and compared it to the 34 convictions of Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump.
“She became a career lawyer while he became a career criminal,” Crockett said. “Kamala Harris has a resume. Donald Trump has a criminal record.”
But she also tried to highlight Harris’ compassion by telling a story about how Harris comforted the visibly nervous Crockett when he, as a new member of Congress, visited the Naval Observatory, the vice president’s residence.
Crockett told reporters that after serving in Congress, she questioned her decision to give up her legal career because she felt she was accomplishing nothing. She won a tightly contested Democratic primary in 2022, but said she often asks herself, “Why am I here?” – which also led to feelings of guilt over the doubts she had about serving in Congress.
A prime-time speaking slot at a party convention can help a political career by putting the spotlight on the candidate’s rising stars or allies. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who rose to political fame by defeating New York Rep. Joe Crowley in a 2018 primary, received a standing ovation at the United Center. California Rep. Robert Garcia, another freshman, also spoke in the arena earlier in the evening.
But the stage in one of the largest arenas in the country is very different from the committee rooms on Capitol Hill.
“I just didn’t want to mess it up. There’s so much at stake and there are all these superstars on this stage, and I just got here and I don’t consider myself a superstar,” Crockett said.
