Texas Two-Step: Trump Rallies Twice in One Day for Ken Paxton, and Lubbock Lines Up Around the Block for the Other Guy
Desk: Political & Government, Campaigns & Elections.
By Dakota Jones
Intro: Two rallies, one city, and a Senate seat in play
Lubbock got a rare political double feature Tuesday night. Less than three miles apart, President Donald Trump rallied for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, while Democrat James Talarico held his own event on the east side of town.
The scene was striking even by campaign-season standards. Per NBC News, it was the first time a sitting president had landed in Lubbock in 34 years. Lines stretched for blocks. And Talarico’s campaign said more than 4,000 people had signed up for his rally. That’s a signup figure, not a confirmed attendance count, but it is still a lot of people deciding that a Tuesday night in Lubbock needs a campaign stop.
The election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting is underway. So let’s look at what happened, why both campaigns are treating Texas as anything but a safe bet, and what the rallies can, and cannot, tell us.
What happened: Trump’s Texas two-step
Trump spent the day in Texas, first holding a rally at the Port of Corpus Christi and then heading to Lubbock to campaign for Paxton. It was Trump’s third trip to Texas this month on Paxton’s behalf. He also attended a two-day GOP midterms convention in Dallas last month.
The race is for the open Senate seat held by John Cornyn, whom Trump defeated in the GOP primary by endorsing Paxton. Now Republicans are defending their 53–47 Senate majority in a general election that’s become much tighter than the state’s usual partisan map might suggest.
Trump’s Lubbock pitch leaned heavily on attack lines. He called Talarico “Talafreako,” described him as anti-gun, anti-oil and anti-meat, and again called him “a communist”. A label Talarico denies. Talarico, for his part, turned the nickname into a punchline, telling his crowd he had never seen so many “Talafreakos” in one room.
He also argued the city was ready for a change, saying his opponents were terrified Democrats might win. Not exactly subtle. But subtlety is rarely the main attraction at a rally.
Trump held a rally at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center while campaigning for Ken Paxton. Photo: Kent Nishimura / AFP via Getty Images, as credited by NBC News.
Talarico framed the contest as a fight over corruption and affordability. “We have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis,” he said. He also claimed Elon Musk had put more than $150 million into Paxton’s candidacy to “buy his own personal senator.” That is Talarico’s claim, not an independently established finding in this account.
Trump brought Secretary of State Marco Rubio to both rallies for speaking appearances. Rubio had stayed clear of midterm campaign rallies until Tuesday, and his approval ratings run higher than those of others in the administration. His presence gave the Paxton events another prominent national figure. Because one Trump rally apparently wasn’t enough for a Tuesday.
Why it matters: Texas is not being treated as a formality
The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections both rate the Paxton-Talarico race a tossup. Polls conducted this month show Talarico with a slim lead, but, as Roll Call notes, nearly all are within the margin of error. In plain English: the numbers offer a snapshot, not a final answer.
The historical backdrop makes the contest notable. The last Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Texas was Lloyd Bentsen in 1988. The last Democrat to win the governorship was Ann Richards in 1990. A Republican president spending an entire day in Texas one week before an election is therefore news in itself. Campaign schedules are not scientific instruments, but they do tell you where a campaign thinks attention, and possibly risk, lies.
The economic mood is part of the picture. Roll Call reported that the national average gasoline price Tuesday was $4.2661 per gallon, according to AAA, with prices tied to the Iran conflict. A Fox News poll released Tuesday found 64 percent disapproved of Trump’s handling of the Iran war, while 36 percent approved. In the same poll, 83 percent said they were concerned about high gas prices and 75 percent worried about Iran.
Those figures don’t settle a Senate race. They do help explain why affordability and the war were prominent themes, and why a contest in a traditionally Republican state is drawing national attention.
Talarico spoke to supporters at his Lubbock rally. Photo: Kaylee Greenlee / Reuters, as credited by NBC News.
There was also a pointed exchange about election results. At Joint Base Andrews, before flying to Texas, Trump was asked whether he would respect the midterm results. “If they’re honest elections, yeah,” he said. The day before, he had offered $1 million to anyone who submitted evidence of election fraud that led to a conviction, and cast doubt on a Minnesota Senate race.
That sequence matters because trust in election results is not a side issue to be tossed into the campaign-season prop closet. It is part of the democratic process itself. Voters should expect candidates and officials to make claims precisely, and to back them with evidence.
And despite the full-day Texas push, Trump stopped short of guaranteeing Paxton would win. “I think he’s going to do very well. You never know: it’s politics.” A rare moment when the campaign slogan is simply: polls are close, and elections are unpredictable.
Trump arrived at a campaign rally at the Port of Corpus Christi earlier Tuesday. Photo: Kent Nishimura / AFP via Getty Images, as credited by Roll Call.
For voters, the practical takeaway is straightforward: a tossup rating and a slim polling lead do not guarantee an outcome. Check what candidates actually say and propose. Treat campaign claims, including claims about campaign spending, as claims until verified. And make a voting plan before Tuesday, Nov. 3.
For more election coverage, you can visit LD3 Productions’ Political & Government newsroom.
Verdict: The crowds are a signal, not a result
Tuesday gave Lubbock two competing stages and one clear message: both campaigns believe this race is worth showing up for. Trump’s two stops were designed to help Paxton hold a seat Republicans need to defend their Senate majority. Talarico’s crowd offered a vivid counterpoint in a state where Democrats have not won a Senate race in decades.
But a long line is not a ballot count. A rally is not a poll. And a candidate’s confidence is not a forecast, especially when the president himself says, “You never know. It’s politics.”
The verdict comes from voters. Early voting is already underway, and Election Day is five days away. Now the important question is not who drew the loudest room. It’s who shows up to vote.
Sources
- NBC News: “James Talarico faces off against Trump in dueling Texas rallies in election's final days” by Natasha Korecki and Peter Nicholas, Oct. 27, 2026. Https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/james-talarico-faces-trump-dueling-texas-rallies-elections-final-days-rcna605629
- Roll Call: “Trump does Texas two-step to close deal for Ken Paxton” by John T. Bennett, Oct. 27, 2026. Https://rollcall.com/2026/10/27/trump-does-texas-two-step-to-close-deal-for-ken-paxton/