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- Both campaigns are courting independents and right-leaning voters, including Latinos who swung sharply toward Trump in 2024.
asserted
who → click → 2024
On a quiet corner of downtown McAllen, past shops selling quinceañera gowns and perfumes, about 30 people trickled into a small brewery on Wednesday evening to watch James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee in Texas, take questions from voters in a CNN town hall.
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Talarico → sell → hall
With beers and tacos, they gathered in front of a large projector screen.
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they → gather → screen
Karyme Segura, 18, sat at the front, listening closely as Talarico said federal immigration agents should be going after violent criminals, not “terrorizing our communities” and breaking up families.
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agents → sit → families
Segura clapped.
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Segura → clap → ?
A day earlier, her stepfather had been deported to Mexico.
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stepfather → deport → Mexico
Since his detention, her mother has been afraid to leave the house, she said.
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she → leave → house
Now Segura has turned to politics, hoping to change the conditions that have left her family fractured and rattled.
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that → turn → family
“I just have to do something,” Segura said.
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Segura → have → something
“I am hoping that after the election my mom will feel more secure. That if Texas turns blue, Trump will feel threatened.”
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Trump → hop → election
Segura is the kind of voter Democrats are counting on as Talarico, a state representative from Austin, tries to defeat Ken Paxton, the state’s Republican attorney general, to become the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Texas since 1994.
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Talarico → count → 1994
The race could decide control of the Senate, and has become one of the most high-profile and bitterly fought contests this year.
uncertain
race → decide → contests
Talarico, a former teacher and Presbyterian seminarian, has courted voters with a populist economic pitch blended with an overlay of Christian messaging to “love thy neighbor.”
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Talarico → court → neighbor
Paxton, an ally of President Trump, has focused on rallying his party’s base by portraying Talarico as too progressive for Texas, including his past opposition to transgender sports restrictions.
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Paxton → focus → restrictions
Since late June, Talarico has led narrowly in most polls, alarming Republicans who have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into ads meant to boost Paxton.
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who → lead → Paxton
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person with significant operations in Texas, has helped buoy that GOP political rescue mission by dropping nearly $190 million into the race, according to federal campaign finance records filed Thursday.
uncertain
Musk → help → records
Trump is rallying in Republican strongholds such as Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama, betting that his presence will be enough to energize voters who might be thinking of sitting out the election.
uncertain
who → rally → election
Democrats have spent heavily, too.
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Democrats → spend → ?
In total, ad spending in the race has surpassed $500 million, according AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm, making it one of the most expensive non-presidential contests in U.S. history.
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it → surpass → history
The Wednesday town hall amounted to free national airtime for Talarico too, who showed up on stage alone despite Paxton —who had so far refused to commit to any debate — being invited.
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who → amount → debate
In McAllen, the owners of the brewery, Tony Reyna and Alyssa Cantu, said they bought a projector screen just for the event.
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they → say → event
“Any information we can bring out to the community, we try to make it happen,” Reyna said.
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Reyna → bring → community
“And if there is not going to be a debate, we are showing the town hall.”
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we → be → hall
When Talarico spent a week away from the campaign trail, conservatives promoted a story that he had been at a mental health facility in Ohio (a rumor that was later debunked).
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that → spend → Ohio
Paxton, who was impeached by the Texas House in 2023, has led a campaign beset by scandal, including a report that he partied in Dubai with fugitives wanted on federal fraud charges.
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he → impeach → charges
One of the fugitives donated to Paxton’s campaign.
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One → donate → campaign
Both campaigns are courting independents and right-leaning voters, including Latinos who swung sharply toward Trump in 2024.
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who → court → 2024
But Trump’s unpopularity has complicated Paxton’s task.
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unpopularity → complicate → task
The latest polls show Trump’s approval rating at 32%, the lowest of his political career, as voters struggle with rising prices tied to tariffs and the war in Iran.
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voters → show → Iran
In Texas, about half of likely voters in a recent Fox News poll said they worried Paxton was too close to the president; nearly as many were concerned Talarico was too liberal.
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Talarico → say → president
Along the border in the Rio Grande Valley, an overwhelmingly Latino region, there are signs that voters who backed Trump two years ago are now open to voting for Talarico — and Democrats as a whole.
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who → be → whole
In interviews with more than a dozen voters across the region, many described the Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement as inhumane and morally wrong, as well as detrimental to the local economy.
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many → describe → economy
“I didn’t think he was going to do what he is doing now.
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he → think → what
I don’t think anybody thought it would be like this,” said Mario Guerrero, chief executive of the South Texas Builders Assn.
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Guerrero → think → Assn
“I think they have gone too far.”
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they → think → ?
Guerrero voted for Trump all three times.
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Guerrero → vote → Trump
Now he is voting for Democrats, he said.
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he → vote → Democrats
Residents talked about how in July, a local nun from Nigeria was detained by federal immigration agents after walking from her home on her way to Mass.
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nun → talk → way
They talk about their small businesses hurting because people are afraid to be out in public shopping.
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people → talk → shopping
Others say it is impossible to find workers in the region.
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it → say → region
…and 40 more, not listed.
The Aporia
