Trump makes third Texas trip of the month for Paxton's Senate bid

Talarico counters Trump’s Texas push with attacks on corruption and affordability

President Donald Trump campaigned in Corpus Christi on Tuesday and was scheduled to travel to Lubbock, Texas, to boost Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton’s competitive campaign against Democrat James Talarico, marking his third trip to the state in a month. Talarico was in Amarillo and was also due in Lubbock as the race entered its final stretch. The Associated Press reported that the trip was part of Trump’s push to stop Democrats from notching their first statewide election victory in more than three decades in next week’s midterm elections.

AP said Texas was the fiercest test of Trump’s strategy to shore up Republican strongholds against unusually competitive Democratic candidates. AP described the campaign as a bet that Trump, though broadly unpopular, still held sway over the GOP’s most loyal voters, whose participation in the elections would be critical. AP said Talarico had capitalized on the difficult political environment for Republicans and Paxton’s history of ethical and legal problems. Trump called Paxton a “good man.”

Talarico was also campaigning in Amarillo, where he assailed a “broken, corrupt” political system, and was due to appear later in Lubbock, as were Trump and Paxton. At every stop, Talarico argued that the wealthy and their donations had corrupted politics for too long and that corruption had fueled the affordability crisis. Trump leaned into cultural issues to portray Talarico as too liberal for Texas. Talarico had begun naming Musk in his stump speeches, while Paxton tended not to discuss him.

In Corpus Christi, Trump said, “We’re celebrating the greatest oil victory in history.” He used the trip in part to highlight the arrangement made with Venezuela to process more of its crude oil in Texas refineries. AP reported that Trump’s war in Iran was spiking gas prices and adding pressure on Republican candidates across the U.S., and that Trump sought to highlight an earlier military operation in Venezuela. AP correspondent Ed Donahue reported from Corpus Christi that Trump would be campaigning for Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton.

Elon Musk, whom AP described as the world’s richest man, had joined Trump’s effort to stop Talarico’s advance. On X, Musk wrote, “Talarico is lunatic left,” to his 241 million followers as part of repeated attacks he had posted against the candidate during the race’s final days. Musk has headquartered Tesla and SpaceX, as well as himself, in Texas. AP described Texas as Musk’s adopted state and linked his apparent effort to ensure Republicans held control there to at least $158 million spent to defeat Talarico.

Musk gave that amount to the Senate Leadership Fund, which then gave the same amount to the Texas PAC, the largest contributor to Paxton’s campaign. The spending helped make the race one of the most expensive in the country, with over $563 million spent on advertising between the primary and general elections, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact. AP said Musk’s investment was a challenge for Talarico but also reinforced the Democratic campaign’s central message about wealthy influence over politics.

Democrat Gina Hinojosa was running for governor against Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who was seeking his fourth term. AP said the Texas governor’s race paralleled the Senate contest over wealthy influence and political access. Hinojosa had sued to be able to view communications between Musk and Abbott, arguing that their relationship showed how close her opponent was to the ultra-wealthy in Texas. On Monday, a judge ruled that Hinojosa, given her position as a state representative, must be able to review over 1,000 unredacted pages by Thursday.

Beyond Texas, Trump entered the final week of his last midterms with a push to shore up Republican strongholds against unusually competitive Democratic candidates. Over the previous week, he had swung through Mississippi, Michigan, Georgia, Florida and Iowa. His next stops were Ohio, South Carolina, Florida, Kansas and Iowa again. AP said Trump won all of those states in 2024.

As the midterms reached their final stretch, the early stages of the next presidential campaign were already surfacing. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as Trump’s national security adviser, was making his first trip on the road with Trump as the president campaigned around the country. A State Department official said Rubio was traveling in his capacity as national security adviser and not as secretary of state. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the travel plans, said Rubio “needs time with the president on all kinds of issues” and that “being on the plane with him gives him a chance to talk to him about these items.”

Rubio previously ran for president in 2016, and AP described him as a top prospect for 2028. He had not said whether he would run, and his political activities had been limited since becoming secretary of state. He appeared on stage with Trump briefly in Corpus Christi, but only after Trump repeatedly called on him to come forward. “It’s an honor to work for the greatest country in the world, for the greatest president in the history of the United States of America,” Rubio said before leaving.

AP described Vice President JD Vance as a top Republican contender for 2028 and said he was more active on the campaign trail, stopping in Michigan on Tuesday, where he called the Senate race between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed a “clash of competing visions.” Ahead of his trip, Vance also echoed Trump’s concerns about the Alaska Senate race. Trump said the previous week that he had ordered the Department of Justice to file a lawsuit to block certification if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan lost. Trump had long complained about the presence of a second candidate also named Dan Sullivan, whom Republicans feared could siphon votes from the incumbent. When asked why voters could not tell the Dan Sullivans apart, Vance said, “When you put a person on the ballot explicitly to try to confuse voters, I think that’s the definition of electoral fraud and I don’t think we should endorse it.”

Alaska voters will see “Dan S. Sullivan” identified as a “registered Republican” and “incumbent” on their ballots, while “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” will not have a party affiliation. Alaska’s Republican election officials determined that the other Sullivan’s campaign was an attempt to “mislead” voters and sought his removal from the ballot. Both a state court and the Alaska Supreme Court disagreed and kept the second Sullivan on the ballot.

Speaker Mike Johnson joined Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, whom AP described as one of the House’s most vulnerable incumbents. “I think we are due for a great election,” Johnson said.