With Election Day this week, dualing Senate candidates Ken Paxton (R-TX) and James Talarico (D-TX) are making their final pitch to voters.
Polling in the last few days has been inconsistent. One New York Times/Siena poll found Democrat Talarico ahead of Republican Paxton by seven points. Others, including a recent Fox 7 Austin poll, found Paxton with a thin lead over Talarico.
Voters will now decide who gets the seat as the two candidates pitch their final campaign messages to Texans.
At a campaign event late last week in Houston, Texas, Paxton reminded voters of his economic proposals. Paxton’s Protecting the Texas Promise Plan includes a $25,000 medical expense tax deduction, a $50,000 homebuyer deduction, a “healthy living” deduction, an expanded child tax credit and making Trump Accounts permanent.
"I’m asking you to look at my record and then compare it to a guy named James Talarico," Paxton said. "Everything that I just laid out puts money in your pocket. His entire record takes it out. James Talarico does have a plan for your money. It just doesn’t include you."
Paxton said a voter Talarico is also a vote for his “radical agenda,” propped up by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) – not for Texas.
"It is a vote for every dangerous idea that Democrats across this country are putting forward right now,” Paxton said. “So, I’m not exaggerating when I say if we lose Texas, we lose America. That’s what we’re fighting for."
Meanwhile, Talarico took to Houston over the weekend as well. At a campaign event at the Bayou Music Center, Talarico said a vote for him is a vote to end corruption.
"They know that I’m going to vote to ban gerrymandering in every state in the union, red states and blue states,” Talarico said. “And they know that I’m going to vote to pass term limits so we can show these puppet politicians the door.”
Talarico rallied the crowd behind the idea that the current system, including the fact that Republicans are in the majority, is why Texans are struggling with the rising cost of living.
“It’s why we can’t afford the basics in this economy: gas, groceries, health care,” he said. “It’s because the system has been rigged by billionaires and crooked politicians like Ken Paxton."
Talarico closed his final message with a David-and-Goliath analogy.
"David wasn’t as big or as strong as Goliath," Talarico said. "He didn’t have as many weapons. But he had hope. He had faith. And he had a slingshot. Houston, you are my slingshot. The people of Texas are my slingshot. And on Nov. 3, those Goliaths aren’t going to know what hit them."
