SCHERTZ, Texas—On March 2, the day before Election Day in Texas’s primaries, three Republicans and two Democrats are making their final pitches across the Lone Star State in heated contests for the U.S. Senate.
On the Democratic side, state Rep. James Talarico and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) are vying for the nomination in a contest that has seen very high early voting turnout for their party. Texas Democrats hold out hope that they could flip the seat, which would be their first statewide win in decades.
Republican primary voters, meanwhile, are choosing between the incumbent, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), and two challengers, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas).
The races have been defined by record-breaking spending—including $128 million in advertising support, according to advertising tracking firm AdImpact—and brutal rhetoric.
Cornyn, a former Senate Republican whip who has garnered at least $71 million of that spending, made an appeal on March 2 in Schertz, a city outside San Antonio near Randolph Air Force Base.
While Paxton leads Cornyn in the most recent polling, he may not have enough support to avoid a runoff on May 26—a final bout that would take place long after the Democrats will most likely have selected their candidate.
With that prospect looming, the senator told The Epoch Times he did not intend to scale back his attacks on his state’s attorney general—part of an aggressive back-and-forth between the candidates, including Hunt, that has intensified in the weeks ahead of Election Day.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet. I’ll be able to give the attorney general my full and undivided attention, and he’ll be receiving that,” Cornyn said.
In Schertz, Cornyn accused Paxton of being “engaged in a vanity project.”
“He doesn’t really care about what happens to the Republican Party or down ballot to these races, but I guarantee President [Donald] Trump cares, because he said, if I lose the House, I’m going to get impeached for a third time,” the senator said.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) campaigns in Schertz, Texas, on March 2, one day before Election Day in the Senate primary. (Nathan Worcester/The Epoch Times)
Trump has held off on endorsing any specific contender in the race, stressing his appreciation for all of them. He hosted Cornyn on Air Force One on a Feb. 27 trip to Corpus Christi, where the president delivered remarks on American energy at its port, a key export hub for liquified natural gas.
Last Stops Before Election Day
Paxton, in his own March 2 appearance, a final rally in Waco, accused Cornyn of not genuinely loving the president, noting that ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Cornyn said Trump’s time “passed him by.”
“Donald Trump[’s] time did not pass, but yours did, and we are going to fix that,” the attorney general said.
Paxton also drew attention to Cornyn’s support for the Safer Communities Act, a bipartisan gun control law passed under President Joe Biden.
Hunt, a third candidate in the GOP primary, campaigned on March 2 in Harris County at an outpost of the Angry Elephant, a politics-themed bar and grill franchise in Texas.
Paxton held a previous rally at another Houston-area Angry Elephant.
Talarico, whose campaigning has included a high-profile interview with Stephen Colbert, has continued his “Take Back Texas” tour, including a March 2 event in Houston.
Crockett, his opponent, campaigned in Houston that same day alongside Reps. Ayana Pressley (D-Texas) and Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.).
Although Talarico and his allies have outraised Crockett, the congresswoman has benefited from a last-minute endorsement from former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Texans Weigh In
Cornyn’s Schertz event attracted many supporters of the longtime lawmaker.
Ken Dale told The Epoch Times he has been voting for Cornyn even before 2002, when he was first elected to the Senate.
“He has character,” Dale said.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) campaigns in Schertz, Texas, on March 2, one day before Election Day in the Senate primary. (Nathan Worcester/The Epoch Times)
Yet, at least one attendee was undecided on whether to even vote in the Republican primary.
Grace Alvarado Sandoval, an Air Force veteran, told The Epoch Times she was “more conservative,” meaning she does not often agree with the Democrats.
While she did not go so far as to say she disagreed with the recent Iran strikes, she voiced discomfort with the fact that they were not congressionally authorized.
“I’m going to spend some time tonight, make a major decision, because I do believe more people need to get up off the couch and vote,” she said.
