Dueling Lubbock rallies spotlight tightening Texas Senate race
What's new: Polls cited in the race showed James Talarico narrowly ahead of Ken Paxton in a city long seen as a Republican stronghold.
Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico drew rival crowds in Lubbock on Tuesday night, turning a reliably conservative West Texas city into a high-profile stop in the Texas Senate race. Trump supporters began lining up at the Civic Center as early as Monday night for Paxton’s event, while Fox News reported roughly 4,000 Talarico backers gathered near the Fiesta Center about four miles away. The split-screen rallies underscored growing pressure in a contest that polls cited by Fox showed Talarico narrowly leading. Lubbock has long been a Republican bastion, making the dueling events a test of whether Democrats can threaten the GOP’s grip on Texas heading into November.