Trump and Talarico Hold Dueling Rallies in Texas Today

Update: Trump delivers Corpus Christi speech, pledges Hill Country flood aid and heads to Lubbock

Updated 21:35 UTC, Oct. 27, 2026. President Donald Trump spoke for more than an hour at the Port of Corpus Christi on Tuesday afternoon, urging Republican voters to turn out for Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race. Air Force One landed at Corpus Christi International Airport at about 1:46 p.m. CT, according to live reporting from Lubbock, and Trump took the stage for the scheduled 2 p.m. rally.

Trump pledged federal flood aid for the Texas Hill Country, where flooding in July and August damaged homes and roads. The Federal Emergency Management Agency told Governor Greg Abbott in September that a state request for aid had been denied because the damage was not judged severe enough. Trump told the crowd he would provide the aid anyway and said officials would work it out on Monday, according to USA Today live reporting from the rally.

Trump called Paxton the greatest attorney general in the history of the state and said election night would prove that America does not belong to those who hate it, and that America belongs to those who love it. Paxton then spoke briefly, thanked Trump for coming to Texas and said Republicans would win the race. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported that Trump praised Paxton throughout the speech, used a mocking nickname for James Talarico and closed by dancing to Y.M.C.A. while the crowd cheered.

The day is not over. Trump is due at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center at 6 p.m. CT, and Talarico rallies at the Fiesta Center in Lubbock at 7 p.m. CT, less than three miles away. Hundreds of people lined up around the Lubbock civic center hours ahead of the evening rally, and Lubbock County Republican chair Ken Adams told local reporters that supporters had travelled in from across Texas and beyond.

President Donald Trump and Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico are both rallying in Texas on Tuesday, one week before Election Day, in a Senate race that will help decide control of the chamber.

Trump speaks at the Port of Corpus Christi at 2 p.m. CT and then at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center at 6 p.m. CT, campaigning for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton. Talarico holds his own rally at the Fiesta Center in Lubbock at 7 p.m. CT, less than three miles from the Trump event, after campaigning in Corpus Christi on Saturday. Hundreds of people lined up around the Lubbock civic center hours before the Trump rally, and some supporters arrived up to 12 hours early, according to live reporting from Lubbock. The Lubbock city council cancelled its scheduled evening meeting after finding it would not have a quorum because of the rally.

Why Texas is getting this attention

Republicans hold the Senate 53 to 47. Texas has not elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994, but the Paxton and Talarico race is in a dead heat in an average of recent polling cited by USA Today. Elon Musk has backed Paxton with more than 150 million dollars, according to USA Today, and members of the Bush political family have backed Talarico.

This is Trump's fourth trip to Texas since Labor Day. He attended the first midterm Republican convention in Dallas in September and made stops in Denton and San Antonio in October. The Associated Press reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was expected to travel with Trump and highlight a newly arrived oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude for Texas refineries, citing a congressional aide and two United States officials who spoke before a public announcement.

The final week

Early voting in Texas runs through Friday, October 30. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Both campaigns are spending the last week on turnout rather than persuasion, and both chose the same two cities on the same day, Corpus Christi in South Texas and Lubbock in West Texas, which shows where each side thinks the remaining voters are.

Talarico also campaigned in Midland and Amarillo on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press account. Paxton, the Texas attorney general, has faced scrutiny of his ethical and legal history during the race, while Talarico has called him the embodiment of a corrupt system in comments reported this week. Neither claim changes the count that matters tonight: two rallies in one city, an hour apart, in a tied race.