Trump rallies in Texas for Paxton as Senate race with Talarico tightens
A week before the midterms, Trump makes his fourth Texas trip of the season. Polls show Democrat James Talarico tied with or narrowly ahead of Ken Paxton; 4.5 million have voted early.
Archive image · Photo: LoneStarMike / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (cropped and resized)
President Donald Trump will hold rallies in Corpus Christi and Lubbock on Tuesday to boost Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton, his fourth campaign visit to Texas this season, according to CBS Texas. Democrat James Talarico is campaigning across West Texas the same day and holds his own evening rally in Lubbock.
The race is seen as a toss-up. A Fox News poll conducted Oct. 15-19 had the candidates tied at 49%, while Emerson College found Talarico ahead 49% to 48%. Paxton's campaign has cited an internal poll showing him up 3 points. "This race is TIED!" Paxton wrote on X, while Talarico accused Elon Musk of trying to "buy this Senate seat."
About 4.54 million Texans had voted early as of Oct. 26, roughly 24% of registered voters, according to unofficial figures from the Texas Secretary of State — up 74% from the same point in 2022, by Newsweek's count. Election Day is Nov. 3.