Talarico's Lubbock Rally Overflows the Fiesta Center: Lines Five Blocks Long, About 1,000 Turned Away, Start Delayed
Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico's East Lubbock rally outgrew its venue twice in two days - moved Monday for capacity, then delayed Tuesday night as lines stretched more than five blocks and roughly 1,000 people could not get in, a campaign official estimated.
LUBBOCK - The line told the story before the speech did. Lines stretched more than five blocks around the Fiesta Center in East Lubbock on Tuesday evening as Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico held his counter-rally to President Donald Trump's appearance across town, and a campaign official estimated about 1,000 people were unable to get inside because the venue had reached capacity, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported in its live coverage. The program, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., was delayed as organizers continued letting people into the packed venue; USA Today put the delay at nearly an hour amid concerns about the venue's capacity.
The overflow was the second capacity scramble in two days. Organizers announced on Monday that the rally was moving to the Fiesta Center, at 1902 East Fourth Street, from its original location, in order to accommodate more rally-goers. "James is honored by the excitement the people of Lubbock have shown towards his campaign," campaign spokesman JT Ennis said in an email to the Avalanche-Journal. "Due to high interest and RSVPs, our campaign needed to change venues to accommodate as many attendees as possible." According to the organizers, more than 4,000 people signed up to attend, and campaign staff said they expected to have to turn away about 1,000 of them.
Several hundred people were already on site before 6 p.m., with a line going around the building. Among them was Karla Rankin, a West Texas Democratic voter, who told the Avalanche-Journal of her support for Talarico: "We need someone that stands for us, the people of America." Lubbock is not ordinary Democratic territory - President Trump carried Lubbock County with nearly 70 percent of the vote in 2024, and analysts following the race say the Democratic strategy in West Texas is to lose by smaller margins while running up votes elsewhere. A five-block line and a thousand people turned away in the Republican heartland is, at minimum, the turnout picture Talarico's campaign came to Lubbock hoping to draw, one week before the November 3 election that will decide the Texas Senate seat and could decide control of the Senate itself.
