Trump and Talarico Hold Dueling Rallies in Lubbock Today, Less Than Three Miles Apart
President Donald Trump speaks at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center at 6 p.m. Tuesday for Ken Paxton - and less than three miles away, at 7 p.m., Democrat James Talarico rallies his own voters at the Fiesta Center in East Lubbock, in the nationally watched Texas Senate race that a Fox News poll last week had tied at 49-49.
Lubbock gets the split screen of the Texas Senate race on Tuesday night. President Donald Trump is expected to speak to voters at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, 1501 Mac Davis Lane, with remarks scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Central, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported in its live coverage. Less than three miles away, Democratic nominee James Talarico will host a campaign rally at the Fiesta Center in East Lubbock, at 1902 E. 4th St., starting at 7 p.m. Attendees at the president's event were told to arrive early and allow extra time for security screening, with a long list of prohibited items that includes banners, signs, drones, glass containers and noisemakers.
Trump's Lubbock stop is the second half of a two-city Texas day for Republican Ken Paxton. USA Today reported the president starts in Corpus Christi, where doors opened at 10:30 a.m., the program began at 12:30 p.m. and his remarks were set for 2 p.m., before he ends the day in Lubbock on his fourth Texas visit of the cycle. The race he is flying in for could hardly be closer: a Fox News poll released October 21 showed Talarico and Paxton tied at 49 percent each among likely Texas voters, down from Talarico's 51-49 lead in the network's previous poll, with Senate control nationally at stake in the outcome.
Talarico, a state representative, is the Democratic nominee challenging Paxton, the Texas attorney general, for the seat of retiring Sen. John Cornyn. Democrats have not won a statewide election in Texas since 1994, making the race one of the party's biggest opportunities in the state in decades, and Talarico has positioned himself as an underdog. Paxton defeated Cornyn in a bitter Republican primary runoff after Trump endorsed him. In 2023, 60 Republicans joined 61 Democrats in the Texas House to approve articles of impeachment against Paxton alleging abuse of office, bribery and misuse of taxpayer funds; the Texas Senate later acquitted him.
Lubbock, about 120 miles south of Amarillo and 330 miles west of Dallas-Fort Worth, is the South Plains hub for agriculture, health care and education and home to Texas Tech University, founded in 1923 and now enrolling more than 46,000 students. Early voting in Texas runs through Friday, October 30, and Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Space City Daily will file verified-remarks coverage tonight after both speeches.
