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By James Bickerton
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Democratic Texas Senate hopeful James Talarico on Thursday told CNN his Republican rival, the state’s current Attorney General Ken Paxton, is "canceling rallies because nobody is showing up."
It came after Paxton’s team said they were postponing a scheduled rally in El Paso on November 1; they attributed this to scheduling and logistics. The event was scheduled to take place at the city’s Orca Event Center, which has a capacity of 130, says a listing on wedding website Green Bowtie.
Talarico is hoping to become the first Texas Democrat elected to represent the state in the Senate since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988. Five out of six recent polls gave him a narrow lead, though all are within the margin of error.
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Democrats are hoping to flip the Senate, which the GOP currently controls with 53 senators, in the November midterms. Should they succeed, Republican President Donald Trump would find his power significantly constrained during the final two years of his second term. Winning a seat in traditionally red Texas would be a major step toward achieving this.
Newsweek contacted the Paxton and Talarico campaigns for comment on Friday by email outside of regular office hours and is awaiting responses.
What Did Talarico Say?
Speaking to CNN on Thursday, Talarico said: "Ken Paxton is canceling rallies because nobody is showing up. He can't recruit volunteers, so he uses AI bots. He doesn't have any grassroots donors, so he's relying on the richest man in the world to fund his campaign."
A clip of the exchange was shared on X by journalist Aaron Rupar, where it received over 173,000 views and more than 10,000 likes.
Newsweek has examined photographs and video from both Paxton and Talarico’s recent rallies to compare attendances.
Paxton Rallies
On October 28, Paxton held a campaign rally at the Arc Light Bar & Grill in the Clarion Hotel in San Angelo that, according to The Daily Beast, which cited a video shared on X by MediasTouch, was attended by "only a few people."
The video posted by the senior digital editor of MediasTouch, a self-styled "pro-democracy" media outlet, shows several dozen people standing around or sitting in several rows of chairs at the venue. They are in front of a stage holding several American and Texan flags. The video hasn’t been independently verified by Newsweek, and it is unclear at what point in proceedings it was taken.
The video appears to have been shot in the bar’s Video War Room, which, according to its official website, has a capacity of 120 seated or 200 standing.
Paxton held a rally in Richmond, in the Houston area, on October 20 that was attended by "approximately 300 people," according to local media outlet ABC13.
On September 30, Paxton addressed a "packed" crowd of supporters at the Summit Ballroom and Conference Center in El Paso, according to The El Paso Times. The venue’s official website says its Summit Ballroom can hold 450 people. A smaller ballroom is also available with a capacity of 100. It is unclear which room hosted Paxton’s event.
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Paxton held a rally at University Draft House in McAllen on July 14. The attorney general's campaign said on X it was attended by 763 people. However, this was contradicted by media outlet MyRGV.com, which said the event "drew a modest audience, topping off at 100 attendees." In response, the Texas Democrats released a statement accusing Paxton of "lying" about the attendance.
The largest rallies held in support of Paxton have been those attended personally by Trump. On October 27, the president addressed a rally at a warehouse at the Port of Corpus Christi that was attended by "about 2,000 people," according to Nexstar. The same day, he also spoke at a rally in the Lubbock Civic Center. Local network KCBD reported there were "15,000 people wrapped around the Civic Center, and just more than 5,000 of them got inside, some standing room only."
Talarico Rallies
Talarico addressed "a crowd of about 2,600” on October 29 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, according to The Christian Post.
Olivia Palombo of Fox News shared a photograph on X of a packed venue for the event, adding: "James Talarico’s rally in Dallas, TX on Thursday (10/29). Standing room only in the venue it appears all seats are filled."
On October 27. Talarico also held a rally in Lubbock, though at the Fiesta Center rather than the Civic Center, where Trump spoke.
KCBD said the crowd that turned up for Talarico’s event "did not fit inside the Fiesta Center," with his campaign saying 4,000 people registered for the event while around 500 volunteered. The Fiesta Center’s ballroom has a usual capacity of 2,600, but KAMC reporter Jen Phillips said that Talarico’s team was hoping to extend this to 3,000.
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The Democratic Party affiliated ‘Democratic Wins Media’ X account shared photographs it said were from the rival Lubbock rallies. It added that "photos have emerged from James Talarico and Donald Trump's dueling rallies last night. Talarico had a packed house and thousands in overflow—Trump had empty seats. Wow."
The @HQNewsNow X account, affiliated with progressive group People for the American Way, shared photographs on the social media site comparing Talarico’s rally in Lubbock to Paxton’s in San Angelo. The post said: "James Talarico rally: Over 4,000 attendees Ken Paxton rally: Approximately 10 attendees." The video of Paxton’s San Angelo rally clearly shows more than 10 attendees.
Talarico held a rally at El Paso’s Magoffin Auditorium, a 1,100-seat venue, on October 26. Video shared online by the Talarico team, which appeared to show a packed venue, said the rally "went over capacity."
Paxton Vs Talarico Polling
A YouGov poll of 1,000 Texas registered voters conducted over October 13 to 21 gave Talarico 50 percent of the vote against 45 percent for Paxton.
Talarico was two points ahead in an Emerson College/Nexstar survey of 1,000 likely Texas voters that took place from October 17 to 19, with 48 percent of the vote to Paxton’s 46 percent.
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A Fox News poll conducted by Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research put both candidates tied on 49 percent. This surveyed 1,398 likely voters over October 15 to 19.
From October 15 to 18, Texas Public Opinion Research surveyed 969 likely Texan voters. It found Talarico ahead of Paxton with 51 percent of the vote to the Republican’s 47 percent.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and James Debens
Register for our November 10 discussion, 'Newsweek Webinar: How the Politics of AI Could Shape Midterms,' which will examine how AI policy played in key races, data centers, lobbying and the political lines that emerged.
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