President Donald Trump dances at a campaign rally at the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center on Oct. 5, 2026, in Grand Island, Neb. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Alex Brandon/Associated Press
President Donald Trump will stop in San Antonio Wednesday afternoon to drum up support for two Texas congressional candidates as the Republican Party works to hold its majority in both chambers.
Carlos De La Cruz, the Republican nominee for the redrawn 35th Congressional District, will speak at the rally at the Freeman Coliseum on the East Side. So will Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s running in a close race against Democrat James Talarico for Republican John Cornyn’s U.S. Senate seat.
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President Donald Trump speaks with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One en route to Nebraska on October 5, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag
That Trump would need to stump for the party nominee for the 35th District wasn’t part of the thinking when Texas lawmakers redrew the Democratically-held seat in 2025 to favor a Republican candidate. Under the new lines, Trump would have won the district by 10 points in 2024.
But a lot has changed since then as Trump’s war on Iran has pushed up gasoline prices and his tariffs on imported goods have driven up costs at the grocery store. The president’s approval rating is at a record low, and he has fallen out of favor with many Hispanic voters who helped him win back the White House in 2024.
About 54% of the 35th District’s voting-age population is Hispanic, up slightly from 51% under the previous boundaries. The district is now anchored on San Antonio’s Southeast Side and includes 26% of Bexar County, and all of the reliably red Guadalupe, Karnes and Wilson counties.
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De La Cruz, an Air Force veteran, faces Bexar County sheriff’s deputy Johnny Garcia in the Nov. 3 election. Both are first-time candidates who are relatively unknown to voters.
Trump is expected to speak at 6 p.m., with programing to start at 4:30 p.m. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. and tickets are required to enter the Freeman Coliseum.
Deputy Joshua Hamby, spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said there will be a significant law enforcement presence around the coliseum and advised drivers to avoid the area due to congestion and expected delays.
“Road closures will occur intermittently as needed,” Hamby said.
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The Bexar County Democratic Party has organized a protest starting at 4:30 p.m. across the street from the Freeman Coliseum. The local chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation will hold a protest in the same area.
Trump is expected to land at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland’s Kelly Field after 3 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Temporary flights restrictions in the area will be lifted around 9:30 p.m.
The FAA has also issued flight restrictions for private planes and helicopters over the San Antonio International Airport from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Mayor wades in
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones wasted little time capitalizing on the president’s visit to San Antonio to score points with her Democratic base.
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On Monday, she said she had requested a meeting with Trump while he is in town to speak with him about ending the Iran War and the trade wars he started with dozens on countries.
“San Antonio is the third most impoverished big city in the country, so it’s not surprising that federal policies causing high gas prices and high grocery bills would disproportionately impact our community — all while aggressive ICE enforcement activities instill fear in our communities, drive up labor costs, and threaten property tax values on the Eastside if the ICE processing facility is built,” Jones said in a statement.
Her office posted a five-point list of discussion topics for the president to her official social media accounts.
In addition to the effects of tariffs and the Iran War, Jones said she wants to speak to him about halting plans to convert an East Side warehouse into an immigration detention center, ending his planned cuts to Medicare and passing federal laws that regulate data centers.
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Jones supports the city suing the federal government to try to stop U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from opening the proposed 1,500-bed detention center at 542 S.E. Loop 410, a few miles east of the Freeman Coliseum.
Jones, a Democrat who ran and lost in the 23rd Congressional District in 2018 and 2020, is a frequent critic of the Trump administration and top Texas leaders. That includes Gov. Greg Abbott who is running for reelection against Democrat Gina Hinojosa, a state representative for Austin. Abbott will not attend Wednesday’s rally, citing a scheduling conflict.
Multiple public polls released in recent days have shown Abbott within a statistical tie with Hinojosa.
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Paxton has been consistently polling behind Talarico, a state representative for the Round Rock area north of Austin. Paxton, in a leaked audio recording, said Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas in early September had hurt Paxton’s polling numbers.