AUSTIN, Texas — Vice President JD Vance campaigned in Tyler on Tuesday, joining Texas Republicans in their push to hold a U.S. Senate seat that party leaders had expected to be safely in their column.

Vance stepped off the plane and greeted the crowd. A man in the audience yelled, ‘I love you’, to which he responded, “I love you too, sir. And in a totally platonic way… I’m the vice president, not James Talarico.”

Vance used the stop to attack Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico and to promote Republican candidate Ken Paxton, coming less than a week after President Donald Trump visited Texas to boost the state’s GOP ticket.

“We want Talarico to keep his freaky paws out of our schools, elect Ken Paxton so that our kids learn how to read at school. That’s all they need to do.”

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Talarico’s team responded by pointing to a Wall Street Journal video it said shows Paxton at a 2024 Dubai party with two men indicted on federal health care fraud charges. Talarico’s team also noted that one of the men donated to Paxton’s campaign.

“After Ken Paxton was caught partying with fugitives in Dubai, JD Vance and Mike Johnson flew in to cover up for their corrupt candidate,” Talarico’s team said in a statement.

The latest exchange follows a San Antonio rally last week where Trump and Paxton criticized Talarico’s two-week hiatus from the campaign trail.

At that rally on 10/07, Paxton said, “Where do you think they hid that little socialist?” Trump also attacked Talarico, saying, “We’re going to crush Dumbocrat Communist James Talafreako.” Trump called for a debate at the rally.

Paxton has not agreed to a debate, but Talarico posted on X over the weekend that he would do it “any time—any place—any network.”

Brian Smith, a political science professor at St. Edward’s University, said the visits from Trump and Vance suggest the contest is tighter than Republicans anticipated.

“They thought they’d be able to spend time in other battleground Senate seats. But them spending time here in Texas really shows how close this election’s going to be,” Smith said.

Smith said the race will come down to turnout, with Paxton positioned to win if Republicans show up in large numbers, while Democrats also have a chance to flip the seat.

A new Recon MR poll shows Talarico and Paxton within the margin of error, a shift from where the race stood a month ago. The campaigning comes three weeks before Election Day.