For a few hours on Tuesday, the Texas Panhandle was the epicenter of the heated midterm race between James Talarico and Ken Paxton, with both candidates making appearances in Amarillo and Lubbock on Monday and Tuesday.
In Lubbock, Paxton was supported by President Donald Trump, who spoke for around two hours on Tuesday afternoon at the packed Lubbock Memorial Civic Center arena. His speech included a range of topics, from criticizing Talarico’s public comments on transgender people, to the Justice Department’s inquiry into Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN5) alleged immigration paperwork fraud, to floating Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) as a potential Supreme Court nominee.
Trump entered to thunderous cheers, tossing hats emblazoned with the phrase, “Trump was right about everything,” into the crowd.
Trump also encouraged the crowd to get out to vote. The Texas Panhandle is historically a deeply conservative area. Texas’ 19th Congressional District, which encompasses Lubbock, last elected a Democrat to Congress in 1982 with Kent Hance. The 13th Congressional District, where Amarillo is located, last elected a Democrat, Bill Sarpalius, in 1992.
State and federal officials appeared alongside Trump, including Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX13), Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, alongside representatives from the South Plains region and Brandon Creighton, the chancellor of Texas Tech.
Paxton spoke briefly during the event, largely about his ties to the president. At one point, he suggested that Trump should purchase a home in Lubbock. Trump focused much of his speech on Talarico.
“The only man standing between Texas and this raging, disturbed person, and he is a disturbed person. Is a man named President Donald J. Trump,” Trump said.
Trump shakes hands with Paxton.
Talarico made an appearance in Amarillo earlier in the day to a fully stuffed Texas Panhandle Regional Democratic Headquarters. He also took the stage at Lubbock’s Fiesta Center to a crowd of 4,000, according to the Talarico Campaign.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke briefly alongside Trump in Lubbock.
Crowd members cheer and clap for Trump.
Senator Ted Cruz, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and several candidates for statewide and district office attended the rally. The guests held up Texas Tech’s signature guns-up hand gesture to the Lubbock crowd.
Trump and Paxton made two campaign stops in Texas on Tuesday, one in Corpus Christi early in the day and one in Lubbock in the afternoon. This rally was the first time a sitting U.S. President has visited Lubbock in 34 years.
Editor’s note: The Amarillo Tribune is your local news source, and our coverage is focused on Potter and Randall counties. Occasionally, we cover state and federal actions or legislation that impacts citizens here. While Lubbock is outside our coverage area, when the most powerful man in the country is less than a 2-hour drive away, that is news for the entire Texas Panhandle. We can’t cover every candidate rally or event, but we do our best to cover each race as fairly as possible.