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LUBBOCK — A sea of red baseball caps formed outside the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center before the sun rose Tuesday. By the afternoon, thousands of Republicans gathered to hear President Donald Trump. Some were draped in American flags. Others wore sequined cowboy hats. They also wore swag that said: “Trump was right about everything.”
Across the street, two dozen protesters assembled. They waved signs supporting Democrat James Talarico for U.S. Senate. Other signs were anti-Trump. Just a few short miles away, scores of Talarico supporters convened for their own rally at the town’s Fiesta Center. The line wrapped several city blocks.
By 7 p.m., Lubbock had become the center of the political universe with Trump and Talarico holding dueling rallies.
The split screen in Lubbock laid bare the rocky political terrain Texas Republicans face this fall, especially at the top of the ticket. Talarico has maintained a small but steady lead over Paxton in most public opinion polls this fall. Other Democrats, including gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa, appear ascendant. Their rise has been fueled in part by growing dissatisfaction over the cost of living, the proliferation of data centers in rural Texas, and other issues like school funding. To win statewide, Democratic candidates must drive up support in places like Lubbock, which have proved to be a firewall for Republicans.
To that end, Talarico spent the day hopscotching West Texas, headlining rallies in Midland and Amarillo. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Talarico’s Republican opponent, also held events in Sherman, a small town about 65 miles north of Dallas, then went to Amarillo. Before Lubbock, Trump was in Corpus Christi, the seat of Nueces County, which Democrat Beto O’Rourke narrowly won in 2018.
“Democrats right now are very motivated to go out and vote,” said Drew Landry, a political science professor at South Plains College in Levelland. “So how can you stem that tide? You get the creator of the MAGA movement to come to MAGA country.”
Lubbock has always been a bright, ruby-red home base for Republicans. The city — referred to as the Capital of West Texas — has a mix of voters who range from college-aged students to wealthy business owners and the elderly. When election season arrives, the city is plastered with red and white signs that read “conservative” and “Republican.”
The Hub City is also home to a dedicated army of Democrats — whose hopes and dreams of a blue wave cresting its cotton fields are regularly dashed.
Ken Adams, chairman for the Lubbock County Republican Party, said Trump’s appearance was a significant moment for Lubbock. It’s a reward for Republicans in West Texas, he said, who have held up the red wall that’s kept the party in power all these years.
“It’s almost like the Super Bowl,” Adams said before Trump’s rally. “You feel the energy, the excitement, and you think of a coach that gets the team fired up right before they run out of the tunnel and take the field.”
Lubbock Democrats see Trump’s late-season rally as something different — a show of fear.
“It feels like the Republicans are running scared,” said Kim Gonzalez, the Lubbock County Democratic Party’s secretary. “Why would they come to Deep Red Lubbock if they weren’t a little scared about what’s happening in Texas? Things are changing.”
C.C. Lawrence, a Texas Tech University student, was among the protesters outside the Trump rally. She called Trump and Paxton criminals, and said the way the Epstein Files were handled was unacceptable. She wants to see the people involved punished, she said. She’s also concerned about gas prices and the war in Iran.
“These forever wars suck up our resources and eat up taxpayer money and make billionaires richer,” said Lawrence, who was wearing overalls with an American flag design.
Inside the venue, the crowd was electric as they waited for Trump to arrive. “USA” chants broke out a few times, and they booed mentions of Talarico and “blue-haired weirdos” in reference to Democrats. One attendee shouted “freak” when Talarico was mentioned by a speaker.
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock native, told the crowd that Austin is “the craziest, most blue progressive place there is,” and they would decide what happens in Texas if Republicans lose. The crowd booed in response.
“If Lubbock doesn’t vote, if Amarillo doesn’t vote, if all the other great cities and counties do not vote, Travis County gets to decide what our state is all about,” Burrows said.
Trump spoke for more than an hour, repeating familiar attacks against Talarico. He claimed that Talarico and Democrats would repeal the Second Amendment and that millions more people would pour in from the U.S.-Mexico border.
“So if you go out and vote, we’re gonna have a tremendous win in Texas,” Trump said. “You cannot have a guy like Talafreako, because he’s not even Christian. We can’t lose the votes.”
Loretta Davis, a Lubbock resident, said she plans to vote this week and, after Trump’s speech, she’s even more motivated to go.
“I’m so happy with all the things that he’s done and everything that he’s doing,” Davis said. “Especially closing the border and helping everybody come together in the United States.”
“They see what we see”
Talarico is not the first Democrat to make advances in West Texas. O’Rourke, from El Paso, regularly visited the region during his unsuccessful U.S. Senate and gubernatorial campaigns. On Tuesday, Democrats once again promised this was their time.
“West Texas shows up,” said Riley Rodriguez, a Democratic state Senate candidate. “We (will) take our state back for the people.”
More than 4,000 people signed up for Talarico’s rally, according to a campaign spokesperson. Demand was so high that the campaign changed locations to accommodate more people.
Talarico took the stage at about 8:30, shortly after Trump finished his speech.
“I know that we’re not the only show in town tonight, and I appreciate all four thousand of you that showed up here this evening,” Talarico said. “That’s a lot of Talafreakos in one room.”
He promised to lower costs of housing, groceries, and healthcare. He said costs have been inflated as a result of the Trump administration’s policies.
Talarico pledged that his campaign represented working people taking power back from billionaires, whose corruption he also blamed for the “affordability crisis” in the state.
“They are scared, they are terrified,” Talarico said of Republicans and the party’s spending on the Senate race. “They see what we see — that we’re about to win this election.”
Disclosure: Texas Tech University has been a major financial supporter of The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in our journalism. Find a complete list of them and more information about our financial and disclosure policies here.