Trump and Talarico Hold Dueling Rallies in Lubbock as the Texas Senate Race Enters Its Final Week
The president campaigned in Corpus Christi and Lubbock for Ken Paxton on Tuesday, pledging Hill Country flood aid FEMA had denied, while James Talarico's Lubbock rally was delayed nearly an hour by the crowd its bigger venue still could not hold.
President Donald Trump and Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico held dueling evening rallies in Lubbock on Tuesday, a week before an election that will help decide control of a Senate Republicans now lead 53 to 47, USA TODAY reported in its live coverage. Texas has not elected a Democrat statewide since 1994, and the RealClearPolitics average rates Paxton and Talarico in a dead heat.
Trump's Texas day began in Corpus Christi, where he greeted a tanker carrying 1 million barrels of oil from Venezuela bound for local refineries and argued that investment by companies such as Apple and Texas Instruments would not have happened without his tariffs. Framing the Senate race, he told supporters that on election night Texas would prove 'America does not belong to those who hate it,' and welcomed Republican nominee Ken Paxton to the stage. 'We are going to win,' Paxton said, thanking the president for campaigning in Texas.
In Corpus Christi the president also pledged more federal aid for flooding in the Texas Hill Country in July and August - aid the Federal Emergency Management Agency had denied in September for lack of severe enough damage, the report noted. 'We'll work that out on Monday,' Trump said. Before boarding Air Force One for Texas, he told reporters he would respect the November 3 results only 'if they're honest elections.'
Trump took the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center stage just before 7:30 p.m. Eastern. Across town, Talarico's rally at the Fiesta Center, scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern, was delayed nearly an hour amid capacity concerns. Organizers, who moved the event to the larger venue on Monday, said more than 4,000 people had signed up and they expected to turn away about 1,000. 'James is honored by the excitement the people of Lubbock have shown towards his campaign,' campaign spokesman JT Ennis said in a statement carried by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Early voting ends Friday, October 30.
