James Talarico is heading back to El Paso on Oct. 26, marking his fourth stop in the borderland since launching his U.S. Senate campaign, as the Democrat closes out a statewide tour with just over a week left before Election Day. The visit is part of a sweep the campaign calls the “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts Tour,” which is set to run from Plano on Oct. 18 through a final rally in Austin on Nov. 2.
A 20-City Push Before Nov. 3
The tour, announced by the Talarico campaign and first reported by kwtx.com, is scheduled to kick off Sunday evening in Plano and will visit 20 cities across Texas, according to the El Paso Times. The full schedule released by the campaign includes stops in Plano, Denton, Fort Worth, Texarkana, Tyler, Houston, Fort Bend, Beaumont, Galveston, Austin, San Antonio, Laredo, Weslaco, El Paso, Lubbock, Dallas, College Station and Temple, per kwtx.com's report. Talarico is confirmed to appear in Temple on Oct. 23, with a College Station stop listed for Oct. 30, and the tour is set to close with a final rally in Austin on Nov. 2.
One of the earlier dates on the circuit is already locked in: Talarico is scheduled to hold a campaign event at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Eagles Event Center in Tyler, with doors opening at 6 p.m., according to the Tyler Morning Telegraph. The tour name nods to the Texas football classic Friday Night Lights, which popularized the phrase “clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose,” the El Paso Times notes.
Talarico's Message Ahead Of The Vote
Talarico has said Texans are tired of being divided by political and geographic divisions, and that the tour aims to unite working people, according to the El Paso Times. He has encouraged Texans across the political spectrum to attend a stop regardless of their politics, the paper reports.
El Paso is not new territory for the campaign. Talarico kicked off his “Frontera Tour” of border communities with a visit to El Paso in July, holding a town hall at the Plaza Theatre as part of what he described as a 750-mile bus tour meant to hear directly from border communities, according to KTSM. The Oct. 26 stop will be his fourth borderland visit since launching his Senate bid in September 2025, per the El Paso Times.
Paxton's Counter-Tour And A Tight Race
Talarico faces Republican Ken Paxton and Libertarian Ted Brown on the Nov. 3 ballot, the Tyler Morning Telegraph reports. Paxton already made his own El Paso stop in the general election campaign on Sept. 30, drawing an enthusiastic crowd of more than 200 people, according to El Paso Matters. Early voting for the general election runs Oct. 19 through Oct. 30, the outlet notes.
Paxton is also mounting his own statewide push, an 18-day “Come and Take It” bus tour with more than 30 stops that is set to launch in Rockwall two days before early voting begins and close with a stop at the Alamo on Nov. 2, according to the Texas Tribune. That tour is slated to include events in El Paso, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Amarillo, Lubbock, Odessa, San Angelo, Abilene, Wichita Falls, Brownsville, McAllen, Laredo, Corpus Christi, Victoria, Tyler and Beaumont, the Tribune reports. Talarico's campaign had booked $81 million in advertising heading into the stretch run, while a supporting super PAC had spent another $8 million and Senate Democratic leadership had put in $3.5 million, per the same outlet.
What The Polls Show
Spending in the race has topped $500 million according to AdImpact, as reported by the New York Times, which notes that recent polls have shown consistent leads for Talarico even as his margins have narrowed since mid-September. A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll, drawn from a sample of 1,200 registered voters statewide, found Talarico leading Paxton 50% to 47%, the Texas Tribune reports. A Marist poll put the race tighter still, with Talarico ahead by just two points among likely voters, 47% to 45%, according to the same Tribune report. That UT survey also found Talarico leading among Latinos, women, and urban and suburban residents, while Paxton led among men and rural voters, the Tribune notes.
Talarico is seen as a real contender to flip the seat, and his campaign has outpaced Paxton's in direct fundraising, according to ABC News. That report also notes Talarico faces more than $158 million in outside spending backed by Republican leadership and Elon Musk. Texas Democrats have not won a U.S. Senate race in the state since 1988, according to the Times — a drought that frames just how high the stakes are as both campaigns barrel toward Nov. 3.
