This year's midterm elections in Texas are on track to cost a billion dollars, with more than half of it spent on the U.S. Senate campaign – what could be the most expensive non-presidential race in American history.
uncertain
what → cost → history
Republican State Attorney General Ken Paxton's campaign bus displays a rally cry from the 19th century Texas revolution against Mexico: "Come and take it."
asserted
bus → display → it
Paxton, whose government tenure has been marked by controversy, is President Trump's hand-picked candidate.
asserted
tenure → mark → controversy
At a rally October 23, Paxton exhorted the crowd: "Do you believe in protecting Texas and stopping Sharia law?
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you → exhort → law
So do I.
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I. → do → ?
Do you believe that parents, not the government, should raise your children?
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parents → believe → children
So do I."
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I. → do → ?
Going into Election Day, polls show the two locked in a tight race.
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two → go → race
Talarico draws his campaign's closing theme from the TV show about Texas high-school football, "Friday Night Lights."
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Talarico → draw → football
He told a crowd in San Antonio Oct. 24, "To win this election, we have to execute.
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we → tell → election
We have to leave it all on the field.
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We → have → field
We have to win."
asserted
We → have → ?
The issues in Texas mirror concerns across the country: high prices, immigration, government corruption, and the power of big tech and billionaires.
asserted
issues → mirror → tech
As the song goes, "The eyes of Texas are upon you."
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eyes → go → you
We invited them to the historic Salt Lick restaurant, just outside Austin, for some Hill Country barbecue, and a little politics.
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We → invite → barbecue
Asked whether all the attention on Texas is inflating the egos of Texans to be the center of the political universe, Hartman replied, "Everything's bigger in Texas!"
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Everything → ask → Texas
Hartman acknowledges that despite the popular image of Texas, the state has a growing Asian American population, a growing Latino population, and more people moving here from around the country.
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state → acknowledge → country
"Texas is very different than the caricature that people paint of Texas from outside of the state," she said, "and I think you see this, and you see some of the growing pains, the cognitive dissonance in this."
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you → paint → this
Watkins noted, "There's more Democratic voters in Texas than there are in Massachusetts.
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Watkins → note → Massachusetts
There's traditionally Democratic voters in rural areas of the Rio Grande Valley who are very socially conservative.
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who → be → Valley
There's, you know, really liberal white people in Austin.
asserted
you → be → Austin
That's how we get into a big, messy, complicated election like we're in now."
asserted
we → get → election
Last weekend, "Sunday Morning" followed Paxton and Talarico as both stumped in and around San Antonio, and spoke to some of their supporters.
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both → follow → supporters
Paxton's backers say the race is about what it means to be a true Texan.
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it → say → what
One man said of Democrats moving to the state, "They don't understand.
asserted
They → say → state
They're bringing their point of views here, and it's going to ruin it.
asserted
it → bring → it
It'll be just like California if something doesn't change."
asserted
something → change → California
Another woman said she doesn't see Talarico as a Democrat: "He is more for Communism and taking away the rights that we have been founded on in this country," she said, adding he "alarms" her.
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he → say → her
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz has been on the trail campaigning for Paxton.
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Cruz → campaign → Paxton
"Look, this race is neck-and neck; it is a dead heat," Cruz said.
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Cruz → look → ?
The left is going to show up.
asserted
left → go → ?
They hate Donald Trump.
asserted
They → hate → Trump
They're going to show up.
asserted
They → go → ?
The question is, does everybody else?
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everybody → do → ?
Do regular people come out and vote?
asserted
people → come → ?
If regular people come out and vote, we'll win Texas and have a good election."
"There are a lot more decent people"
Talarico supporters say GOP attacks on their candidate, over the border and transgender rights, are not working.
asserted
attacks → come → border
One woman doesn't buy the argument that Latino voters in Texas are turned off by Talarico on cultural issues: "I mean, I'm Latina, so I'm Brown and proud," she said.
asserted
she → buy → issues
"I just voted this morning for James Talarico, so I am very excited to see, hopefully, the change that's going to happen."
asserted
that → vote → change
That change won't come easy.
asserted
change → come → ?
Conservative republicans have run Texas for decades.
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republicans → run → decades
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
