2026 Election: Texas U.S. Senate race

Yeah, everyone is cheering because they're watching some of the national results on TV right now. And when they see a big Democratic win or if it shows that a Democrat is in the lead, they get really excited. I would say there are at least several hundred people out here when they started letting in guests at 7 p.m. I mean, the lines look like, I mean, I'm really bad at estimating crowd sizes, but it was at least hundreds of people in line. And I'm sure there are even more have come in over the last two hours. So people are optimistic here. I mean, some of the supporters that I spoke to say, you know, they want an honest politician. Affordability is top of mind for them. Immigration is also a big issue. So people are definitely optimistic right now. Now, Tallarico first ran for Texas House in 2018. He beat U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett during the primaries for Senate earlier this year. Tallarico is a former public school teacher who's been against school vouchers and book bans. He says he wants to fight corruption in politics and has never taken PAC money. His platform focuses on affordability, access to health care, and he's tried to pitch himself to independents and moderate Republicans. Now, again, his platform is very much about the people versus corruption. Here's what one of the supporters had to say. And again, still a lot of optimism here tonight, at least a several hundred people, if not more coming in, and we will keep you posted throughout the night. Back to you. Angela, I remember when President Obama had his big rally here in Austin, the very first one. It was down in that general location. The auditorium shores was just packed. It was a festival-like feel. And I'm getting the vibe, the same kind of vibe from you in that live shot right now. Does it feel political or does it feel more like ACL 2.0? I kind of see what you're saying. It's a great view over here with the skyline behind me. And, you know, there's food trucks, there's vendors. So I can see what you're saying. It kind of is like a festival. The weather is great. Of course, there's political coverage on the monitors on the other side of me. But to your point, kind of a festival meets political rally combined, if you will. Back to you. All right, we're going to shift gears a little bit. Fox 7 Austin's Jenna King is live tonight with Ken Paxton's campaign. Jenna, how's things going there? Much different vibe, I take. Much different venue, for sure. Absolutely. Hey, Rudy. Hey, Alec. Yeah, we're here at the Westin Galleria in Dallas. This event started around six o'clock and there were tons of people lined up to come on in. It was pretty quiet for a while. We've got a TV. I'm going to get out of the way so you can kind of see an idea of what we've got going on. We've got Fox News playing in the background. Volume is not on. They've said, as you can hear, they've got music going on. It was just minutes ago we saw a crowd of people And so, as you can see, they're showing their results right now and, you know, not a lot of, obviously, enthusiasm from this crowd on their candidate. But let's talk background on, you know, how we got here. As we mentioned, you know, over the years, Paxton has faced... Scandals, criminal charges, and an impeachment trial, but of course has still managed to maintain a strong following among those conservative voters. Throughout his campaign and his come-and-take-it bus tour included more than 30 stops all across Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio. The tour kicked off in Rockwall and ended in a late schedule change, put him in Conroe and Allen on election eve. He was originally scheduled to wrap up that bus tour at the Alamo in San Antonio, but had that last-minute switch. Ken Paxton took to the stage on Monday afternoon alongside Senator Ted Cruz, telling supporters that the future direction of the state hangs in the balance this election cycle. He says Texans need to understand what's at stake. We caught up with some of his supporters earlier. Here's what they had to say. I don't want kids transitions, I want to keep my guns. I don't want to provide everybody health care. Those are three of the main things that I want to keep. I'm optimistic, but I'm not one that takes things for granted. And every vote counts. The polls were packed today in Collin County, the ones I went to. So I'm hoping that's a good sign. But there's also a lot of people out there that, like I said, that they vote off of influence instead of doing their own research. Paxton won that nomination after defeating a longtime incumbent, John Gordon, in the May runoff. He's a veteran, of course, in Texas politics, more than two decades. He served in the Texas House, later in the Senate, before winning attorney general in 2014. There he built a high-profile national legal career, challenging federal immigration policy, defending voter identification requirements, and voting for abortion restrictions. His career also has faced some Some significant legal and political scrutiny. He was indicted on state securities fraud charges, and he was later impeached by the Republican-led Texas House on allegations of bribery and abuse of office, though he was later acquitted. His supporters say throughout all of this, they, of course, still support him, still trust him, still want to see him come out on top. And it has been quite the night. Obviously, you know, those votes still coming in and... And not quite the excitement for this crowd that they were maybe thinking that would happen tonight. But we're still going to be here keeping you covered. But for now, I'll send it back to you guys. Jenna, before we let you go, as you just addressed there, is there a feeling that the tide may turn the other way? It is still pretty early in the night. And speaking with some people, they said, you know, we're not we're not giving up hope just yet, you know, trying to trying to remain optimistic again. Like I mentioned, that prayer circle. And so, you know, not giving up hope quite yet, but definitely a very, you know, a very interesting, interesting vibe compared to what was going on, obviously, over at Auditory, I'm sure. But the night's not over yet. I'll send it back to you, too. Jenna King in Dallas there with Ken Paxton's campaign.