Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is set to get a boost from Vice President JD Vance in his Senate bid, as national Republican leaders make a final push to retain the seat. The race between Paxton and Democratic nominee James Talarico has become unusually close. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso stumped for Paxton across West Texas on Wednesday, a day after Trump made his third visit to the state this month.
"He's not the guy for you. He doesn't represent your values, and we can't take a chance," Trump said. Talarico has led most public polls since Paxton ousted Senator John Cornyn in the May runoff, and the seat could decide which party controls the Senate for the last two years of Trump's term.
The prospect of losing control of the Senate has prompted Trump and the GOP to shore up Republican strongholds where Democrats are running closer than expected. Trump has rallied in Mississippi, Michigan, Georgia, Florida, Iowa and Ohio over the past week. He is scheduled to visit South Carolina on Thursday, Florida on Friday, Kansas on Saturday and Iowa again on Sunday.
Newsweek reached out to the Paxton campaign for comment Thursday. Vance is scheduled to speak at 1:50 p.m. local time at JRJ Construction in Weatherford, west of Fort Worth, according to the Texas Republican Party. It is his third Texas rally in about a month, following stops in Harlingen and Tyler, as Republicans seek to boost turnout in heavily Republican Parker County.
The Texas trip comes two days after Vance rallied in Howell, Michigan, where he said the Senate race between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed highlights a “clash of competing visions” between the parties. Republicans rarely need to defend a Senate seat in Texas, as Democrats have not won a statewide race since 1994. This year, however, the party has deployed some of its biggest names to the state.
Trump held events for Paxton in Corpus Christi and Lubbock on Tuesday, his fourth stop to Texas since Labor Day. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso joined Paxton on the campaign trail in West Texas on Wednesday, making stops in San Angelo and Abilene. The money tells a similar story.
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