President Donald Trump urged support for Texas Republicans on the eve of early voting — and trained his fire on some relatively unknown down-ballot Democrats, a sign of how competitive the midterms have become as voters head to the polls.
Trump on Sunday night held a phone rally with Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, state Sen. Mayes Middleton and two congressional candidates, Jace Yarbrough and Eric Flores.
“A lot of people say this must be tough making a call like this. It’s not because I love these people, I love what they represent, and I love the people of Texas,” Trump said.
The president targeted Vikki Goodwin, an Austin state representative running to unseat Patrick, and Nathan Johnson, a state senator running for attorney general against Middleton.
Some recent polls show both locked in close races, despite the two Democrats starting with hardly any name recognition and raising far less than their GOP opponents.
No Democrat has won statewide since 1994.
Trump accused Goodwin of wanting to “give you a nice high state income tax” and said Johnson “opposes the 10 Commandments in Texas schools.”
“Can you believe it?” Trump said.
Later in the call, Paxton urged listeners to meet with two or three people a day and urge them to vote. Patrick upped the request when he joined the line.
“Every one of you on this call has a cell phone. You may have 50, 100, 1,000 contacts. I want you to send out, you know, cut and paste to everyone on your contact list and say, ‘Are you voting for Republicans in November or early voting?’” Patrick said. “And if they say yes, say ‘Thank you, God bless you.’ And if they say no, call them. They’re your friends.”
Notably absent from the call was Gov. Greg Abbott, the top Republican in the state, who is locked in a tight race against Gina Hinojosa. Patrick was the only person on the call to mention that contest.
“I tell every Republican — understand that these three people, (James) Talarico, and Gina Hinojosa and Vikki Goodwin — they’re all in Austin,” Patrick said. “Do we want Travis County to be in charge of Texas? They’re anti-government. They’re high tax. They’re woke left on every issue. So when you’re talking to your friends who say, ‘Well, I’m not sure’ — you say, ‘Look, do you want Austin to control Texas?’”