Ken Paxton brought his Senate campaign to San Antonio on Sunday, telling supporters at Crown Ridge Banquet Hall that “everything costs more, groceries, gas, the electric bill, everything is up except our paychecks,” as Bexar County Democratic Party members gathered outside to protest his candidacy. The stop came as the Texas Senate race entered its final weeks before the November election, with both campaigns racing across the state to lock down votes.
The San Antonio rally was part of Paxton's “Come and Take It” bus tour, a campaign swing with more than 30 stops that launched in Rockwall on October 17 and is set to wrap up at the Alamo on November 2, according to The Texas Tribune. The tour's name nods to the battle flag of the 1835 Texas Revolution, framing Paxton's campaign as a fight against political and federal opponents, with the finale at the Alamo carrying obvious symbolic weight. As first reported by KABB, Paxton told the San Antonio crowd his agenda is to fight so every Texan can buy a home, raise a family, and live a healthy life without daily financial struggle.
Paxton outlined a handful of proposals he said would put more money back in Texans' pockets, including tax deductions for medical expenses, tax deductions for home down payments, and a larger child tax credit, per the same report. He also took aim at Democratic opponent James Talarico and urged the crowd to vote before Election Day.
Democrats Rally Outside the Venue
While Paxton spoke inside Crown Ridge Banquet Hall, members of the Bexar County Democratic Party protested his candidacy outside, raising concerns about his policies and the direction of the state, according to KABB's reporting. Protest organizers said they hoped the demonstration would encourage more people to get involved before November.
Talarico has mounted his own counter-tour, dubbed “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts,” hitting 20 Texas cities between Plano and Austin ahead of the election, as reported by The Texas Tribune. The name borrows from Texas high school football culture, and Talarico has pitched it as a nonpartisan, working-class message meant to directly counter Paxton's framing.
A Dead-Heat Race With National Money Pouring In
The cost-of-living message Paxton delivered in San Antonio lines up with a CBS News poll released Sunday showing the Senate contest in a dead heat statewide, with cost of living ranking as the top issue for Texas voters and Talarico leading among voters who said they had been negatively affected by higher prices, according to CBS News. Outside Republican PACs and aligned groups have poured more than $200 million into general election advertising to back Paxton, with additional campaign appearances and funding from Senator Ted Cruz, the Washington Post reported.
Paxton reached the general election by defeating four-term incumbent Senator John Cornyn with 63.8% of the vote in a May 26 primary runoff, following a late endorsement from Donald Trump, according to Ballotpedia. Cornyn became the first incumbent Texas senator to lose renomination since 1970.
San Antonio's Housing Squeeze Backs Up the Pitch
Paxton's housing message has local numbers behind it. The San Antonio metro's median listing price in 2025 was $331,705, compared with a median household income of $73,281. The 0.666 affordability score describes the metro's for-sale inventory, which is approximately average and marginally less affordable across income levels, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Statewide, the Texas Workforce Commission's 2026 self-sufficiency benchmark puts the income a typical Texas family needs to cover basic living costs at $74,614 a year, or $17.66 an hour — a 2.83% jump from 2025.
Turnout Stakes in a Reshaped Bexar County
San Antonio's turnout could prove decisive. Bexar County had 1,315,860 registered voters as of September 28, according to the Bexar County Elections Department, making it one of the state's largest urban battlegrounds. More than 161,000 local voters whose records landed on the state's “suspense list” due to address changes remain legally eligible to vote as long as they fill out a statement of residence, Bexar County election officials confirmed to KENS 5.
Complicating matters further, post-2024 redistricting shifted roughly 43% of Bexar County residents into new U.S. Congressional districts for this election cycle, according to the San Antonio Report. That reshuffling means many local voters are navigating new district lines even as they weigh the Senate race at the top of the ballot.
