Paxton and Talarico Make Final Pushes in Texas Senate Race as Early Vote Tops 6.7 Million

Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico made closing arguments Saturday in a tossup Texas U.S. Senate race, with more than 6.7 million early votes cast statewide. Talarico held an event in Houston, while Paxton, the state's attorney general, campaigned in Fort Worth, and President Donald Trump joined the campaign by telephone. Talarico has led in polls but remains the underdog in a state that has not elected a Democratic senator since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988. Paxton's office also sued election officials in Harris County, the state's largest, over voter advertisements aimed at racial and ethnic groups, saying there was no legitimate reason for the targeting. Harris County has already stopped running the ads, and Paxton recused himself from the case. With one day of early voting left, more than 950,000 Harris County residents had voted, passing the 855,711 record for a nonpresidential election set in 2018. Paxton said he had been on a 17-day bus tour, appearing with J.D. Vance and with Trump in Corpus Christi and Lubbock.

Left-leaning outlets split their focus. The New Republic leads with the Harris County lawsuit, framing it as an effort to suppress voting by people of color, quoting the complaint and Democratic Rep. Christian Menefee, and stressing the recusal and record turnout. The New York Times leads with Talarico's "slingshot" closing pitch and his underdog status despite poll leads. Right-leaning outlets omit the lawsuit and turnout and focus on Talarico's politics. Breitbart features Paxton on Fox News calling Talarico a "socialist Democrat," accusing the media of hiding his views, and citing Chuck Schumer and out-of-state donors. The Washington Free Beacon leads with a Dallas pastor, Frederick Haynes, calling ICE "the new KKK" at a Talarico rally, and notes Talarico thanked him despite opposing abolishing ICE. Both sides cover the same race, but they differ on whether the story is voter access or Talarico's ideology and allies. AP and NewsNation mostly report the closing events and turnout.