Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico has triggered a massive Republican spending effort aimed at stopping a potential blue wave in the Lone Star State. Yet inside the 37-year-old Democrat’s campaign, there is growing concern that Texas may ultimately remain in Republican hands.
People familiar with Talarico’s campaign told the New York Times that internal polling shows him either tied with Republican nominee and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton or within the survey’s margin of error.
“I think James has at most a 50 percent chance of winning,” Luke Warford, chairman of the Travis County Democratic Party, told the outlet. “Which, look, in Texas, that’s phenomenal. If you told me a year ago a Democrat would have a coin-flip chance of winning, I’d be doing backflips.”
Polls conducted several weeks ago gave Talarico a six-point advantage. More recent surveys, however, suggest the contest is tightening. Sources attribute the shift to a surge of spending from Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who lives in Texas and runs his major companies, Tesla and SpaceX, from the state.
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According to the Times, Musk has donated at least $158 million to groups backing Paxton’s campaign.
The money has funded attack advertisements aimed at Talarico, and some people within his campaign acknowledge that the ads are damaging his standing ahead of Election Day. The Texas Senate contest could become the most expensive nonpresidential race in US history.
Reports indicate that the two campaigns have already spent more than $400 million on advertising alone.
