Political candidates have had a busy time, as the Election Day finish line of a long campaign period is now in sight. It’s also been a busy week for North Texas, as these politicians have focused heavily on the region since early voting began. 

Both Senate and gubernatorial candidates made campaign stops in North Texas over the past week, beginning last Monday when Gov. Greg Abbott appeared in Tarrant County and Rep. James Talarico spoke at the University of North Texas. 

In case you missed it, here’s a roundup of highlights from the candidates’ campaign stops in North Texas. 

James Talarico at UNT

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Talarico gave a 15-minute address at UNT in Denton on the opening day of early voting. He connected themes from “Friday Night Lights,” filmed in his hometown and inspiring his “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts” tour, to the final days of his campaign against Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“There is a moment in every game, the last play of the last drive, when you have to leave it all on the field,” Talarico said. “UNT, we are in that moment. In the final days of this election, they are coming at us with everything they’ve got.”

During his stop in Denton, Talarico touched on Paxton’s campaign funding, which is being bankrolled by mega-donors like Elon Musk. The race between Paxton and Talarico has amassed nearly $500 million in ad spending and has broken records to become the most expensive Senate race in United States history. Talarico’s campaign has gathered $128 million. 

“The billionaire mega donors and their super PACs have already spent $200 million in attack ads to try to defeat us,” Talarico said. “That is the most of any Senate race in American history, and more is on the way. They are scared, they are terrified, they see what we see, that we’re about to win this election.”

Talarico used his time to call out Paxton’s previous record of corruption and attempted impeachment. He spoke on affordability for Texans, public education funding and called his opponent “the most corrupt politician in Texas.”

“Ken Paxton is everything that is wrong with this broken, corrupt system. He doesn’t serve us, he serves himself,” He said. 

Ken Paxton in Sanger and Sherman 

Paxton held a rally at Uptown Rail Brewery in Sanger and Shulman’s in Sherman on Sunday, Oct. 25, for his “Come and Take It” tour. 

Paxton talked about his tax policies, known as his “protecting Texas promise” plan, saying he would double child tax credits, make Trump accounts permanent and push for a $25,000 tax deduction for medical expenses and a $50,000 homebuyer deduction if he is elected. 

Paxton also took shots at his opponent, whom he has nicknamed “Talafreako”, saying he has changed his stances to align more with Paxton’s on certain issues. 

“His rhetoric doesn’t match his current record. I want you to know what his record is,” Paxton said. “Everything he’s talking about, he’s changed his position on, not even a little bit, but to my position.” 

Texas Republicans have made gender and sexual orientation a major campaign point in recent and current elections. Talarico has reversed stances on Transgender athletes during an interview with Fox News and has also walked back his stances on gender-affirming care for minors. He had previously voted against restrictions from GOP lawmakers barring trans student-athletes from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. 

Gina Hinojosa at Texas Woman’s University and UNT

Gina Hinojosa spent Friday, Oct. 23, rallying across Denton. She gave speeches at UNT and Texas Woman’s University urging voters to get out and vote early. 

During Hinojosa’s visit to TWU, she took shots at Abbott’s voucher program, calling it the “biggest voucher scam in the whole country,” and said he “sold out” Texas children and schools in crisis. She also spoke on healthcare, data centers, public education and more. 

The stop at Denton’s universities was a part of her “One Fight Tour,” where she says Texas has only one fight: the fight is between the people of Texas and billionaires. Hinojosa nailed down on data center restrictions, a topic she has long criticized the governor for and used to gain traction among rural Republicans. 

“There’s no protections for our water, there’s no protections for our electricity costs. This is all to create a product of AI that is supposed to take all of our jobs,” Hinojosa said at UNT. 

Hinojosa will speak at a rally on Oct. 27 at the National Hall in Fort Worth. 

Greg Abbott in Allen and Fort Worth 

Abbott was in Fort Worth at Old Texas Brewing Co. on the first day of early voting. The stop in Tarrant County, historically a GOP stronghold, comes as the area has become a battleground for the midterms, which Abbott was not shy about highlighting in his remarks. 

“I told y’all one thing at the beginning of the campaign, and that is I would ensure that Republicans win Tarrant County. This is so important to me, and I know it’s important to you,” He said. “Together, we’re going to keep Tarrant County red. We’re going to keep Texas red. We are going to keep Texas, Texas.”

Abbott said the stakes are high in Tarrant County come election day, which is why he made it his first campaign stop of his ‘Get Out the Vote’ tour ahead of Nov. 3. 

Tarrant County, which faced recent controversy from voting rights activists after the county removed 92 polling centers, is on all Republican candidates’ radars because it slightly favored Democrats in the 2018 and 2020 presidential elections. 

Abbott talked about affordability in Texas, during which he boasted about a property tax relief plan he says will save Texas families $4,000 on average each year.

“I tell you something else that nobody does a better job of, and that is the affordability I put Texas on the pathway on. I put Texas on the pathway to become the most affordable state in the United States of America,” He said. “My agenda is going to save the average Texas family more than $4000 a year that you can keep in your pocket.

He spoke of his Democratic opponent, saying she is further left than “crazy Talarico” and said the election is between that of “common sense” and a “total catastrophe.”

“We gather today because we cannot allow that success to be destroyed by radical leftists like Gina Hinojosa,” Abbott said. “Everyone has heard what the crazy Talarico is about. In every session that they worked together, Gina Hinojosa pointed to being more radical left than Talarico. She is far more left-progressive, and there is no one in Texas, and that is no one in Texas, that should be allowed to be governor.” 

The governor also talked about his immigration policies, like banning sanctuary cities and Texas building its own 82.2-mile-long state-funded border wall, which took five years to complete. 

Abbott also stopped in Allen on Wednesday, Oct. 21, to repeat similar sentiments, calling Hinojosa “totally crazy” and too progressive for Texas.