Talarico rallies as his Texas US Senate race against Paxton enters final weeks

Democrat James Talarico is making a late push in Texas's U.S. Senate contest against Republican Ken Paxton, hoping to become the first Democrat in more than three decades to win statewide there. The outcome carries national weight, since the winner will help decide which party holds the Senate during the last two years of President Donald Trump's term, according to ABC News.

At a crowded Thursday night rally in San Marcos, south of Austin, Talarico, a state representative and seminarian, cast his campaign as ordinary people against Goliath-sized money. He argued that billionaires and corrupt politicians have rigged the system and driven up living costs. Attendee Kaitlyn Johnson, 29, a bartender, said she cannot see herself affording a house soon despite a decent income.

Federal filings made public Thursday show Elon Musk put $158 million into the Senate Leadership Fund, which in turn sent $158 million to Texas PAC, Paxton's biggest backer. Musk also gave $10 million to Lone Star Liberty PAC. Talarico has still outraised Paxton, and voters' doubts about Paxton, who was impeached in the Texas legislature and later acquitted, have helped him. Talarico keeps his distance from national Democrats, and Bernie Sanders will not share a stage with him.

Summarized by PolitiKool from ABC News’s reporting. Read the full story at ABC News →