{"id":471531,"date":"2026-10-20T11:32:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T11:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/471531\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T11:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T11:32:14","slug":"why-both-parties-call-san-antonio-critical-in-this-nov-3-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/471531\/","title":{"rendered":"Why both parties call San Antonio critical in this Nov. 3 election"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the final days of the 2026 midterm election, state and national figures are swarming San Antonio to rev up local voters who could play an outsized role in a pivotal election.<\/p>\n

Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful\u00a0James Talarico<\/a>\u2018s statewide campaign tour<\/a> will make its last stop here on Nov. 1 \u2014 the day before Republican nominee Ken Paxton is ending his 30-stop bus tour at the Alamo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump rallied here<\/a> earlier this month, weeks after U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) visited a Southside VFW<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The moves come as two<\/a> Democrats<\/a> viewed as potential 2028 presidential contenders are helping San Antonio-area congressional candidates, and Johnson\u2019s Democratic counterpart, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) will campaign here<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n

No part of the country has seen a greater political swing than South Texas in recent years, where Trump set a high-water mark<\/a> when carrying the state by 13.5% in 2024.<\/p>\n

Now the GOP hopes to continue that trend to win a number of redrawn congressional districts this cycle \u2014 despite poll after poll showing Republicans struggling to hold onto Trump\u2019s coalition.<\/p>\n

\"\"U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), right, visited a VFW Post on San Antonio\u2019s South Side on Wednesday to campaign for 35th Congressional District Republican nominee Carlos De La Cruz. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Nowhere is that dynamic on greater display than Texas\u2019 35th Congressional District, which was drawn to favor a Republican, but could now determine who holds the keys to the speaker\u2019s office next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeaders from across Congress and across the country are all watching what happens right here in this district,\u201d Johnson told supporters<\/a> at a San Antonio VFW Post in August. \u201cThis district is the whole enchilada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Redistricting scrambled San Antonio voters. Here\u2019s how to find your sample ballot.<\/a><\/p>\n

Early voting<\/a> runs through Oct. 30 for a Nov. 3 election with an unusual number of high-profile races on the ballot in Texas.<\/p>\n

Congressional races could make or break Republicans\u2019 razor-thin U.S. House majority, the governor\u2019s race<\/a> is polling closer than many expected, and the U.S. Senate contest between<\/a> Talarico and Paxton keeps crushing spending records.<\/p>\n

If Democrats are ever going to crack a statewide race in Texas, political strategists say, this area\u2019s voters are a high priority. <\/p>\n

Though Bexar County has long been a blue stronghold, Democrats say its voters don\u2019t turn out<\/a> in as high of volume as the state\u2019s other urban centers.<\/p>\n

\"\"Former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg participates in a Bexar County Judge debate at Texas Public Radio\u2019s Irma & Emilio Nicolas Media Center, Oct. 15, 2026. Credit: Alejandra Sol Casas \/ Texas Public Radio<\/p>\n

Last cycle that worsened, when roughly 750,000 reliable Texas Democratic voters either flipped for Trump two years ago or didn\u2019t vote at all, according to San Antonio political strategist Kelton Morgan. <\/p>\n

Many of whom were Hispanic voters in and around the San Antonio-area.<\/p>\n

Against that backdrop, former San Antonio mayor and Democratic nominee for county judge Ron Nirenberg told supporters this morning that how the county votes this year will speak volumes about the direction the state is headed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis community represents Texas. We are the vanguard \u2026 Bexar County is the future,\u201d Nirenberg said near the Las Palmas Library where early voting was just kicking off. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis election in Texas depends on Bexar County turning out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the final days of the 2026 midterm election, state and national figures are swarming San Antonio to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[8519,58275,37405,16850,72268,82,84,83,158719,32624,92,3028],"class_list":["post-471531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-2026-election","tag-2026-texas-gubernatorial-election","tag-2026-texas-senate-race","tag-hakeem-jeffries","tag-ron-nireberg","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-speaker-mike-johnson","tag-texas-35th-congressional-district","tag-top-story","tag-typedaily"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}