AUSTIN, Texas — President Donald Trump has made four trips to Texas this election season as he urges voters to turn out ahead of the Nov. 3 election and works to boost Republican candidates across the state.
Trump’s Texas stops this month have included Dallas for the RNC and rallies in Denton and San Antonio, along with events in Corpus Christi and Lubbock on Tuesday. At a stop in Corpus Christi, Trump told supporters, “We’re going to elect Republicans up and down the line.”
Brian Smith, a political science professor at St. Edward’s University, said Trump’s travel schedule in Texas reflects the stakes for Republicans in the state.
“He didn’t think he was going to be running around Texas in late October just trying to ensure that Texas votes Republican,” Smith said.
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The visits come as several races on the ballot are described as extremely close, including the U.S. Senate race. A recent poll from Activote last week showed Democrat James Talarico up two points to Republican Ken Paxton among likely voters, within the poll’s margin of error.
Trump has also used his appearances to press Texans to vote. “If you go out and if you all vote, we win in a landslide. We win everything,” Trump said in Corpus Christi.
In Austin, voters said Trump’s presence in Texas was not the reason they were coming out to vote, but his message and the candidates he has endorsed were influencing how they planned to vote.
Delanie Free, an Austin resident, said, “I am not really for a lot of the things that he’s standing for.” Another Austin voter, Kim Wood, said, “Backed up what I was saying, what I was thinking, but it wasn’t a big influence on me.”
As of right now, Trump does not have any more scheduled visits to Texas before Election Day on Nov. 3. Vice President JD Vance is expected to rally in Weatherford on Thursday.