Vice President JD Vance gives the keynote address on night two of the 2026 Republican Convention on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026 at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Abigail Dollins
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
If Texas doesn’t vote Ken Paxton into the U.S. Senate on Nov. 3, the state has surrendered, said Vice President JD Vance during a Republican campaign rally in Weatherford. Vance and a dozen other Republicans spoke to the packed crowd on Thursday, Oct. 29, at JRJ Construction.
The message throughout the three-hour-long rally was that every conservative voter needs to get out to the polls and select the Republican nominee from the very top of the ticket all the way down. It’s the only way to keep the “demon party” out of Texas, Comptroller Don Huffines said.
About 3,000 people spanned the brand-new JRJ Construction warehouse at 1140 Ric Williamson Memorial Highway and spilled out into the overflow area outside. The vast majority of the speakers were candidates on the Republican ticket, including Huffines, Mayes Middleton (attorney general), Craig Goldman (Congressional District 12) and Brandon Gill (CD 26).
The tight U.S. Senate race between Paxton, the Texas attorney general, and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico took center stag.
The warehouse was crowded, hot and humid, but Vance said the perseverance of the attendees just proved how energized they were to vote for the Republican ticket, especially Paxton.
“This crowd is proof that everything, from the enthusiasm, to the spirit, to the patriotism, everything is bigger than the state of Texas,” Vance said. “What I love about Texas is that Texas is not ashamed of its way of life. Texas feels real pride in the United States of America. Texans feel pride in what we built.”
Paxton is “obsessed” with fighting for the Texas way of life and its residents, Vance said.
“This is what this election comes down to,” Vance said. “Ken Paxton believes that the people of Texas ought to decide the future of Texas, and Talafreako believes that the future of Texas ought to be decided by Chuck Schumer. We say hell no to that.”
The Democratic Party wants Talarico to win so badly because of what it would symbolize to win Texas, Vance said.
“Texas, more than any state in the union, is the backbone of the traditional American spirit, it represents something even in the mind of a kid who grew up in Ohio,” Vance said. “It embodies patriotism, grit. It embodies duty to neighbor and to country, the very things that make us Americans.”
If Talarico wins on Nov. 3, Vance said Talarico will make a mockery of all that and Democrats will “send a message to the entire country, that even Texas surrendered.”
Paxton, who spoke earlier in the afternoon, listed his lawsuits against big tech, big pharma and President Joe Biden as qualifications for receiving the audience’s votes. He said this election is about giving the next generation another 250 years of American brilliance.
Texans have to “fight, fight, fight” to save their state and nation from Democrats by voting him into office, Paxton said.
Talarico has been endorsed by several Republicans, some of whom said Paxton is too corrupt to send to the Senate. Ari Prakash, a lifelong Republican, told the Star-Telegram on the first day of early voting that he was voting for Democrats from top to bottom as a “total protest vote.”
Huffines said it doesn’t matter if Republican voters are mad at the party, they just need to hold their nose and vote Republican down the ballot anyway.
“I had to hold my nose and vote for John McCain. I had to hold my nose and vote for Mitt Romney. I was a delegate to the national convention, I still voted for him,” Huffines said. “This is about saving the nation. When we lose Texas, we will lose the USA. And when we lose the USA, you will lose the free world.”
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Rachel Royster is a news and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, specifically focused on Tarrant County. She joined the newsroom after interning at the Austin American-Statesman, the Waco Tribune-Herald and Capital Community News in DC. A Houston native and Baylor grad, Rachel enjoys traveling, reading and being outside. She welcomes any and all news tips to her email.