President Donald Trump will visit Corpus Christi and Lubbock on Tuesday, and Vice President JD Vance will visit Weatherford on Thursday. The stops are meant to rally support for Republican Ken Paxton in his U.S. Senate race against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico. University of Houston political science lecturer Nancy Sims said the visits show how hard Republicans are working to keep the seat.
Recent polls show a close contest. An October Emerson College/Nexstar Media poll had Talarico at 48% and Paxton at 46%. A separate Rasmussen Reports survey found the candidates tied. The outcome could decide which party controls the U.S. Senate for the final two years of Trump's term.
In Corpus Christi, the GOP is also focused on the region's congressional races, including the 15th, 28th and 34th districts, where polling shows close contests. Trump narrowly won majority-Latino Nueces County in 2016 and 2020, then won it by double digits in 2024. Del Mar College political science professor Paul Gottemoller said the visit shows how important Latino voters are to Republicans. He said recent polls suggest the 2024 shift was not permanent.