Trump rallies support for Ken Paxton in Texas campaign stop
Progressive policy ambitions meet practical realities as Americans weigh costs and consequences.
There’s something almost funny about a Texas Senate race being called a toss-up, as if the state hasn’t spent the last decade proving which way the wind blows. President Trump’s rally for Ken Paxton on Thursday wasn’t just a favor to an ally. It was a reminder that Texas Republicans still know how to show up for a fight, and Paxton is exactly the kind of brawler the left can’t stand.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
President Donald Trump urged Texas voters to support state Attorney General Ken Paxton in his Senate battle against Democrat James Talarico, as polls show the race is a toss-up for either political party, during a campaign swing through the state Thursday. “We need Ken so badly, and that’s why I’m here.
I wanted to stop here,” Trump said while speaking at the Peterbilt Motors in Denton. “Texas represents so much. It would be such a horror to the system to put a guy, a freak like that in there, would be such a horror to … your state and such a horror to the country.” Talarico holds 5-point lead over Paxton in Texas Senate race, poll shows James Talarico jumps into Texas Senate race setting up clash with Colin Allred Republicans will have spent more than $300 million boosting Paxton as Democrats are hoping to flip the Senate seat.
Texas PAC, which is affiliated with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), has spent $131 million to aid the attorney general, federal filings show. The Cook Political Report rates the race as a toss-up, and Democrats are counting on voter frustration over the economy and high gas prices to help them capture a seat that has long been held by the GOP.
Lloyd Bentsen was the last Democrat elected to the Senate from Texas, in 1988. The president also suggested that Talarico is far too radical for the Lone Star State. “We’re all for Ken, how the hell could you be for the other guy anyway?” he asked. “Even if they had a good opponent, I’d be for Ken because he proved himself.” Trump, however, pushed back against complaints that his administration has not done enough for the nation or that the scandal-plagued Paxton could lose the race. “We need the votes, and I’m here for that, and I think we’re going to win,” said Trump. “Every place I’ve gone, we win.” But numerous polls show that voters blame Trump for the Iran war, leading to high gas and diesel prices.
The concern has even led several Republican lawmakers to call for an immediate end to the war or to distance themselves from Trump, whose approval numbers have reached record lows. Paxton continues to tout Trump’s support and appeared with him in Denton.
The attorney general did, however, lament that the midterm convention, held in Dallas during September, did not help his polling numbers against Talarico, according to leaked audio reported by the New York Times.
But on Thursday, Trump said under his leadership, the economy is actually prospering. TALARICO HOLDS 5-POINT LEAD OVER PAXTON IN TEXAS SENATE RACE, POLL SHOWS “We have literally the greatest numbers,” said Trump. “There are more people working in the United States right now than at any time in the history of the United States by far.
More people working. We have the best poverty numbers, the lowest numbers on poverty in the history of our country.” Trump is ramping up his campaign travel this month. But notably, all of his stops this week and early next week are in reliably red states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Nebraska.
Sources close to the White House rejected claims that Trump’s itinerary is due to fears that the states were slipping from the GOP’s control.
Original source:
Read at Washington ExaminerHow We See It
New Republican Times Editorial Board
There’s something almost funny about a Texas Senate race being called a toss-up, as if the state hasn’t spent the last decade proving which way the wind blows. President Trump’s rally for Ken Paxton on Thursday wasn’t just a favor to an ally. It was a reminder that Texas Republicans still know how to show up for a fight, and Paxton is exactly the kind of brawler the left can’t stand. The guy has spent years in the crosshairs of every activist prosecutor and D.C. critic who could find his name, and he’s still standing. That’s not an accident.
The interesting part is who the Democrats picked: James Talarico, a state representative who talks a good game about faith and rural values but votes with the party line when it counts. Texas doesn’t need another congressman who sounds like a Texan in October and a coastal progressive in January. Paxton’s record as attorney general is a list of fights against Washington overreach, from border security to election integrity. That’s what Texas voters actually want, and Trump made that case bluntly because someone had to. This race should not be close. But Democrats are pouring money into Texas for the same reason they keep moving to Austin: they think they can turn it, if they just flood the zone long enough.
A toss-up poll in this environment means Democrats are outspending and out-messaging Republicans on the ground. So Trump showing up matters. He didn’t come to Texas to make a vague speech about party unity. He came to say Ken Paxton is the one who will go to Washington and cause the same sort of trouble for the left that he caused in Texas. That message is simple, and it lands. A conservative who fights is worth more than a moderate who folds. Texas Republicans would be foolish to get complacent over a polling average when they’ve seen what happens to states that take their Senate seats for granted.
The takeaway is straightforward: the left sees Texas as winnable, and they are spending like it. Trump’s rally is the countermove, and Paxton is the candidate. The voters in Texas have a clear choice between a man who has spent his career defending the state’s sovereignty and a Democrat who will be one more vote for Chuck Schumer’s agenda. Texas doesn’t need a gentle hand. It needs a fighter. Paxton showed up for the state, and Trump showed up for him. That’s the whole story, and it’s a good one for Republicans if they don’t let the polls talk them out of winning.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.