EL PASO, Texas — With the Nov. 3 vote just over a week off, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico filled UTEP’s Magoffin Auditorium in El Paso, Texas, on Monday night, casting his race against Republican Ken Paxton as an underdog fight against wealthy donors.
More than 1,000 people turned out for the stop, part of a 21-city closing tour across the state. Talarico likened his campaign to David taking on Goliath and told the crowd that El Paso was his slingshot.
Much of the speech went after money in the race. Talarico said super PACs backed by billionaire donors are spending about $200 million to stop him and singled out Elon Musk, whose contributions of nearly $190 million have gone to the Senate Leadership Fund. That group is the chief super PAC for Senate Republicans and has outspent everyone else in the Texas race.
He tied rising costs for groceries, gas and health care to what he called corruption in Washington, and said he would vote to overturn the 2010 Citizens United ruling that opened the door to unlimited corporate election spending. He also said about 60,000 volunteers have signed up statewide.
Talarico, 37, is a state representative from Austin and a former public school teacher. He won the Democratic nomination over U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett in March. Paxton, 63, the state attorney general, won the GOP nod by beating Sen. John Cornyn in a May runoff after an endorsement from President Donald Trump.
Early voting in Texas runs through Friday, and the outcome could help decide which party controls the U.S. Senate.
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Filed under: El Paso TX Politics News
