“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin said Thursday that Texas could turn Democratic in November for the first time in roughly three decades, as the show’s panel examined the closely watched U.S. Senate contest between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton.
“I think it will. I really believe we’re going to see Texas go blue,” Hostin said. She pointed to September polling from eight pollsters that showed Talarico ahead of Paxton, 51% to 45%, describing the numbers as especially notable because no Democrat has won statewide office in Texas in 30 years.
Hostin also cited the survey’s demographic breakdown, which showed Talarico leading Paxton by 56% to 40% among women, 66% to 22% among voters ages 18 to 29, and 62% to 30% among Hispanic voters. “We’re talking about Texas,” she said. “He’s going to win this race.”
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said Talarico’s competitive position in the traditionally Republican state reflected broader dissatisfaction with President Trump’s administration.
“The fact that Texas is even in play says a lot about this moment,” Griffin said, arguing that voters appear increasingly frustrated with the country’s current leadership.
Although Griffin acknowledged that a Democrat has not won statewide in Texas in more than 30 years, she said the Senate race could still go either way. She described the contest as an unusually favorable opportunity for Democrats and blamed the circumstances on what she called problems created by the president himself.
Griffin also characterized Talarico as a strong Democratic nominee and suggested Republicans might have been better positioned with Sen. John Cornyn as their candidate instead of Paxton, who secured the GOP nomination with Trump’s endorsement.
An October Fox News poll showed Talarico with an eight-point net favorable rating among likely Texas voters, with 52% viewing him favorably and 44% unfavorably. Paxton’s rating was significantly weaker, with 40% favorable opinions and 58% unfavorable views, leaving him 18 points underwater.
The poll also found that Republican voters were six times more likely to hold an unfavorable view of Paxton, at 32%, than Democrats were to view Talarico negatively, at 5%.
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Texas voters were narrowly divided over which party should control the Senate. Forty-nine percent said they preferred a Democratic majority, while 50% favored Republican control. Among Republicans, 8% preferred Democrats to lead the chamber, compared with just 1% of Democrats who supported a Republican Senate.
Taken together, the findings gave Talarico a slight 51% to 49% advantage over Paxton among likely voters. The difference, however, fell within the poll’s margin of sampling error.
Co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Ana Navarro urged caution about the favorable polling for Talarico and questioned whether the Democratic candidate’s apparent lead would hold through Election Day.
“2016 left me scared,” Navarro said.
Navarro said voters could remain optimistic, but warned that confidence alone would not determine the outcome. “People have to turn hope into votes,” she said, adding that supporters should not become complacent by relying too heavily on polls if they want to bring about political change.
Paxton’s campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Trump appeared alongside Paxton at a campaign event in San Antonio, Texas, on Wednesday.
Trump and Paxton criticized Talarico for not attending the event. Talarico’s campaign said the Senate candidate had been ill with the flu and was expected to resume campaigning over the weekend.
RNC spokesman Zach Kraft sharply criticized the discussion on “The View,” telling Fox News Digital that anyone who takes Hostin’s and Griffin’s political commentary seriously has poor judgment. His statement also included a personal insult directed at the show’s guest hosts.