Trump makes last-minute effort to keep Texas in Republican hands with third trip

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – President Donald Trump was in Texas for the third time in a month Tuesday as part of a last-minute bid to prevent Democrats from scoring their first statewide election victory in more than three decades in next week’s midterm elections.

Trump was in Corpus Christi and Lubbock to strengthen the Republicans Ken Paxton competitive U.S. Senate campaign against Democrat James Talarico. Without ceding the stage to the presidential spotlight, Talarico was in Amarillo, where he attacked a “broken and corrupt” political system. Like Trump and Paxton, he will later appear in Lubbock.

The president leaned into cultural issues to portray Talarico as too liberal for Texas. And as Trump’s war in Iran drives up gas prices and increases pressure on Republican candidates across the United States, he has sought to highlight an earlier military operation in Venezuela. Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefly appeared on stage with Trump, who used his trip to highlight the agreement reached with Venezuela to address more its crude oil in Texas refineries.

“We are celebrating the greatest oil victory in history,” Trump said in Corpus Christi.

Trump enters the final week of his final midterms in a frenzied campaign aimed at consolidating Republican strongholds against unusually competitive Democratic candidates. Beyond Texas, it has passed through Mississippi, Michigan, Georgia, Florida and Iowa over the past week, and its next stops are Ohio, South Carolina, Florida, Kansas and Iowa again.

He won all of those states in 2024.

Texas tests Trump’s influence on the Republican Party

The campaign marathon is a bet that while Trump is largely unpopular, he still holds influence over the Republican Party’s most loyal voters — a bloc whose turnout in the election will be crucial.

The strategy faces its fiercest test in Texas, where Talarico has capitalized on the difficult political environment for Republicans and Paxton’s history of ethical and legal problems.

Trump maintained that Paxton was a “good man” and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, joined Trump’s efforts to stop Talarico’s advance.

“Talarico is a left-wing lunatic,” Musk wrote on his social media platform

Musk has based Tesla and SpaceX, as well as himself, in Texas, and is so determined to ensure Republicans control his adopted state that he appears to have spent at least $158 million to defeat Talarico. Musk gave that amount to the Senate Leadership Fund, which then gave the same amount to the Texas PAC, the largest contributor to Paxton’s campaign.

That helped make this race one of the most expensive in the country, with more than $563 million spent on advertising between the primary and general elections, according to ad tracking company AdImpact.

While Musk’s investment poses a challenge for Talarico, it also fits perfectly with the central message of the Democratic campaign. At each stop, Talarico argued that for too long, the rich and their donations have corrupted politics and that this corruption has fueled the affordability crisis.

Talarico began naming Musk in his stump speeches. Paxton tends not to talk about it.

That echoes the Texas gubernatorial race, where Democrat Gina Hinojosa is running a spirited campaign against the Republican governor. Greg Abbott.

Hinojosa sued to be able to view communications between Musk and Abbott, arguing that their relationship demonstrates how comfortable his opponent is with the ultra-rich in Texas.

On Monday, a judge ruled that Hinojosa, given her position as a state representative, must be able to review more than 1,000 unredacted pages by Thursday.

Rubio’s visit provides insight into potential 2028 GOP contest

As the midterm elections draw to a close, the first steps of the next campaign are already surfacing.

Rubio, who also serves as Trump’s national security adviser, was hitting the road with Trump for the first time as the president invaded the country. A State Department official said Rubio was traveling with Trump in his capacity as national security adviser, not secretary of state.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss travel plans, said Rubio “needs time with the president on all kinds of issues” and that “being on the plane with him gives him an opportunity to talk to him about these topics.”

Rubio previously ran for president in 2016 and is considered a top candidate in 2028. He has not said whether he will run and his political activities have been limited since becoming secretary of state.

He appeared briefly on stage with Trump in Corpus Christi — and only after Trump repeatedly called on him to come forward.

“It’s an honor to work for the greatest country in the world, for the greatest president in the history of the United States of America,” he said before leaving.

Another leading Republican candidate for 2028, vice president J.D. Vancehas been more active on the campaign trail, stopping Tuesday in Michigan, where he called the Senate race between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed a “clash of competing visions.”

In California, Xavier Becerra, a Democrat running for governor, urged voters to reject a voter ID ballot measure, which he said would make it harder for citizens to vote.

“We want democracy to not only shine, but to be so resilient and so strong that Donald Trump cannot overthrow California,” Becerra said in San Francisco.

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Sloan reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani and Michelle L. Price in Washington, Haven Daley in San Francisco, Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix and Joseph B. Frederick in Orangeburg, New York, contributed to this report.