The Republican National Convention and Democrats for Texas have both announced political rallies in Lubbock for Oct. 27.
President Donald Trump’s rally has doors opening at 11 a.m. and the event beginning at 1 p.m. The location and details of the event have yet to be released by the RNC.
Senator James Talarico’s event will be later at the Frazier Alumni Pavilion on the Texas Tech campus. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the program begins at 7 p.m.
The Trump rally is being held to gain support for U.S. Senate candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his contested race against Talarico.
This will be the fourth visit for the president to the Lone Star State to hold rallies ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Trump rallied in Dallas in September and also visited Denton in early October, promoting his economic agenda as the Senate race between Paxton and Talarico tightened. He went on to campaign for Paxton and Republican candidate Carlos De la Cruz in San Antonio.
A CBS News poll shows the Texas Senate race is essentially tied between Talarico and Paxton as Election Day approaches.
The poll found that while Paxton benefits from the state’s overall Republican leanings, Talarico is drawing support from voters’ economic concerns and more favorable perceptions of his personal character.
As of Oct. 16, the poll indicated that Talarico had 51% with Paxton following at 49%.
Now the election is all about turnout.
Talarico’s standing is helped by more Democrats saying they’ll definitely vote. That leaves the dynamic in the closing days up for grabs. If more Republicans decide to vote, it could certainly change.
According to the CBS poll, the bulk of Paxton’s voters are backing him either because he’s the GOP nominee or to oppose Talarico, and because they want to support Trump.
Economic challenges facing Republicans nationally showed up in the poll. The cost of living is the top issue for Texas voters, and most say they’ve been negatively affected by higher prices. Among these voters, Talarico enjoys a sizable lead over Paxton.
Additionally, more voters saw Talarico as having the right character to serve as senator.
Outside the economic considerations, Republicans voters say they feel Talarico represents policies that are a threat to their culture and way of life.
The Trump administration’s deportation program drew more support in Texas, compared to the most recent CBS national poll, and that advantages Paxton. Democrats, for their part, feel the same about Paxton.
Texas has a lot more Republicans than Democrats, which means Talarico needs to do overwhelmingly well with independents and get some vote shift among GOPers opposed to Trump policy, or activate enough new voters to offset that.
POLITICAL RALLY cont. on page 2 The CBS poll indicates Talarico gets 5% of those who identify as Republicans. On a wider scale, he draws 9% of people who — regardless of their own party affiliation — say they never vote for Democrats but will this time.
Talarico also needs strong turnout from younger voters, who today say they back him in large percentages. Historically, younger voters don’t typically turn out at as high a rate as older voters do.
The Latino vote is critical in Texas. In 2024, that demographic swung towards Trump – but now mostly backing Talarico, saying higher prices have been a hardship or difficult, and most of them do not think Paxton has the right personal character to serve as a senator.
Meanwhile, in the governor’s race, CBS showed Gov. Gregg Abbott drawing 52% to Gina Hinojosa’s 48%.
A Univeristy of Texas poll also showed Hinojosa receiving 49% support among likely voters, compared with 48% for Republican Abbott.
In the race for lieutenant governor, polls showed Vikki Goodwin (D) was leading Dan Patrick 49% to 46%, and Nathan Johnson (D) led Mayes Middleton 48% to 47% in the attorney general race.