In the October 25 episode, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate James Talarico shares what he learned from Beto O'Rourke and Ted Cruz's past campaigns as he makes his final pitch to voters. Mayes Middleton, the GOP nominee for Texas Attorney General, dismisses suggestions that show a close race with his opponent. And Sean Pease, the president of the Dallas Police Association, reveals why the influential organization is now the latest advocate to save Dallas City Hall.
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Straight ahead here. The final push Ken Paxton, James Talarico, Greg Abbott, Gina Hinojosa the state's top candidates crisscrossing Texas right now with five days left in early voting. James Talarico taking our questions while on the road. His closing message to voters whether he can win without rural Texas and what?
Talarico told us that he learned from both Beto O'Rourke and Ted Cruz. Maes Middleton advertised heavily to win the Republican nomination for Texas attorney General, but much less so now. So what does he know that the polls don't reveal? And the Dallas Police Association now the latest advocate to save Dallas City Hall.
The president is with us to explain why.
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Inside Texas Politics with Jason Whitely starts now. I'm Jason Whiteley, less than two weeks here before the election. And here are the political headlines happening across Texas. Five days left in early voting. Texans are shattering turnout records. Last week, on the first day alone, more than 800,000 people cast votes statewide.
Turnout in Dallas in Harris County surpassed President Trump's last midterm in 2018. Elections administrators, though, urged Texans to vote early. Don't wait until Election Day, they say, in case there's bad weather or something else comes up. A few weeks back here on the program, we told you about one Texas Republican who was willing to debate his opponent.
Turns out that didn't happen. Beau French there. The Republican running for railroad commission. French now saying he never actually confirmed a Dallas debate with his opponent, John Rosenthal. Ken Paxton and Greg Abbott both breaking precedent as well and refusing to debate their Democratic opponents this cycle, too.
And President Trump is back in Texas with just days to go before the election, trying to shore up support for Republicans like Ken Paxton. Trump has already been here three times over the last month. Now he has rallies scheduled in Lubbock and on Corpus Christi on Tuesday. The white House clearly concerned, though right now about Republican chances next week.
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Let's start though, right now with the Paxton Talarico race at the top of the ballot. Both candidates traversing Texas trying to turn out voters right now in these final days of early voting. Ken Paxton's team did not respond to our request for an interview, but James Talarico did. So we met him backstage after a rally at the University of North Texas in Denton.
Representative, good to see you here. Good to see you. Democrats regularly do well in the metro area, as Republicans always pick up the votes in the rural areas of the state. And there are a lot of those. Do you think you've done enough to get out the vote in those areas here as early voting begins? Yes. We've been showing up in small towns around the state in rural communities.
We've got volunteers and organizers in every community across the state, including in rural Texas. And most importantly, we've been speaking to the issues that our neighbors out in rural Texas are facing. We talked about the closure of rural schools and rural hospitals, and the need to have a senator who will actually fight for rural Texas.
That's the kind of senator I want to be. Can you win, though, November the 3rd without a significant chunk of rural Texas? No. And nor do I want to. I want to win with the support of urban Texas, suburban Texas and rural Texas. I'm I'm frankly tired of us being pitted against each other. We are all Texans. We have shared problems.
We have shared dreams. And we need a senator who's going to represent all 31 million Texans no matter what part of the state they live in. Republicans are telling voters that you're much more liberal than you are portrayed yourself here. What do you think is the single issue that voters might misunderstand about you?
I hope people look at my record in the state House. That is more than anything I'm going to say on the trail. Certainly more than anything our opponents are going to say is, is looking at my record. That's how you're going to learn what kind of senator I'm going to be. Is there a one issue that you think is getting traction on the right that you'd like to clarify?
Well, you know, over those four terms, I've worked with Republicans, I worked with folks on the far right to actually deliver from my constituents. I passed 60 bipartisan bills through the legislature. Bills that lower people's costs, the cost of housing, the cost of childcare, the cost of prescription drugs, including insulin.
And so that's how I'm going to lead in the Senate. I'm going to work with Ted Cruz. I'm going to work with Republicans to get stuff done, because that's what I've always done. How much did your campaign look at the 2018 run for Beto O'Rourke, and if so, what did you learn from that? Because already you're doing things that he did not do even even though both of your dynamic, you know, Democrats we haven't seen in the past.
Yeah. And, you know, every candidate who runs, frankly, in both parties has something to teach us. What did you learn from Beto? I think the excitement that, Congressman, our work generated across the state, especially among young people, is certainly something that that we want to try to replicate.
But even, you know, when Senator Cruz first ran against David Dewhurst, he showed how a grassroots outsider campaign can beat the establishment. So I take inspiration from from great candidates, no matter what party they're in. What specifically has to happen November the 3rd for you to pull off something that no Democrat has done in more than 30 years?
Well, you know, I said when I first launched this campaign that the real fight in this country is not left versus right, it's top versus bottom. And so what's going to need to happen is working people across the partizan spectrum, across racial divides, religious divides, cultural divides, geographic divides.
Working people are going to have to unite by November 3rd to take on the most corrupt politician in Texas and take on this entire corrupt system. And if that happens, we're going to be successful and we're going to make very real change for working people in our state. Closing message to voters here as we close in on the election.
What is it? We have an opportunity to change how we do politics in this race, in this state. And this year, I am tired of being pitted against my neighbor. I'm tired of being told to hate my neighbor. I'm tired of the algorithms and the cable news networks that are tearing us apart for the profit of a handful of billionaires.
And so we have an opportunity to build a new kind of politics where we bring people together instead of instead of dividing folks in our state. And so I am I am hopeful for what we're going to be able to do in this election and then what we're going to be able to do for the people of Texas in the United States Senate.
Representative. Good luck. Thank you.
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All right. Let's bring in the roundtable. Now, we have Bud Kennedy from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Natalie Goddard's political reporter, WFAA in Dallas. And Ashley Goudeau is the political director at Kvue in Austin. But let's start with you here. Dallas and Harris County setting these early voting turnout records.
Are they going to be able to are Democrats going to be able to stack up enough votes before the election to overcome any red wave that would be coming from the rural parts of the state. Jason, these early votes are you could look at them like a Rorschach test. You can see whatever you want to see. You know, one side will tell you the Democrats are flooding the polls.
The other side will tell you that it's all people who always vote. Republicans always vote. They're just showing up late. We do see trends. Tarrant County in the Valley. Tarrant County Democrats are 56, 57% right now, which is, you know, more than enough to flip that county and the South Texas counties.
Of course, writing about the same ahead, just a complete turnaround from last cycle. And Ashley, I cannot help but think that Democrats might be overconfident here. Every Democrat I hear from or talk to is just so excited about these early voting turnout numbers. And of course, we don't know who these votes are going to hear for sure.
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Right. We don't know who's turning out the vote. I mean, and that's the thing that makes it so tricky to look at these numbers. I think Democrats really get hopeful, um, often. Right. They were hopeful when Beto O'Rourke was going against Senator Ted Cruz. They were hopeful when, again, O'Rourke was going up against Governor Greg Abbott.
The reality is, is we have to wait and see who actually comes out to the polls. And don't underestimate that. If you start talking all about how many Democrats are coming to early voting, early voting, that's going to get Republicans motivated right, to go to the polls and for them to vote to if they're already not doing that.
Yeah, indeed. So that would definitely, you know, motivate Republicans. And it has in the past too. Natalie, I want to ask you about those those transgender pamphlets that went out across the state to to tens of thousands of voters. It's a fake mailer address to kids at a specific house. And it says, essentially, you know, if your parents won't let you transition, give us a call.
All this is fake. The timing is quite interesting, though, right? Middle of early voting when this this turned out who's behind these I guess more than anything. Are cultural issues like this going to be a A play when affordability is such a big deal. You know, I think that is the number one question that at least I is also a voter have.
I want I am curious to see, like Ashley was mentioning, who is coming out to turnout and why they are turning out. Is it because of these culture wars? I do think that the timing, like you mentioned, Jason, is notable. These pamphlets came out first, second day of early voting. We know now that this is coming from a mailer in Wyoming has nothing to do with Texas, is the home base of other scams.
And many, many people, including lawmakers from right here in North Texas, were very quick to point the finger, accuse and assume. And now we've got transgender rights groups in Texas feeling the heat of something that they had nothing to do with. And it's really disappointing. So because of this, I do think there is a chance that voters are motivated, even still, by the culture wars.
It would be nice to pay more attention to the fact that we can't afford anything anymore. Certainly on the right culture war issues are still a big deal there. Guys, back to you in just a moment. A lot more ahead here. Including this.
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When we come back here, Mays Middleton in studio responding to what his opponent told us and making his final pitch to Texas voters for attorney general.
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Plus, there's a new advocate to save Dallas City Hall, the influential Dallas Police Association. Why it's now getting behind that effort. Up next on Inside Texas Politics.
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Welcome back to Inside Texas Politics. Now to the race for Texas attorney general, the person who will replace Ken Paxton as the state's top law enforcement officer. A couple of weeks ago here on the program, we had the Democrat on in this race, Nathan Johnson. Now, the Republican Mayes Middleton, who took our questions in the final days of his campaign.
Senator, great to see you here. Thank you. This office has been Republican. The attorney general's office has been Republican since 1998. This year is looking a lot closer than it has been in the past 30 something years here. Why do you think it's not as comfortably Republican a Republican as it has been?
Well, I mean, you're talking about the polls and I don't believe the polls. This is going to be your head. Polls your head. We're ahead in the polls, you know, and I know Republicans are going to win on November the 3rd. It's just a matter of turnout because we know they're more Republican voters in Texas.
There are Democrat Harris County and Dallas County, among others, are shattering these early voting records here. And Democrats make up, you know, most of these two metro areas here. Are you concerned that that they might be stacking up votes before the election, forcing Republicans to really get out on Election day?
No, we're turning out our people across the state. You know, the first two days, of course, you know, we saw that in 2020, where there were some heavier Democrat voting in certain blue counties. And then that got made up later, of course, because we won the state in 2020 by a lot. So I mean, you're seeing potentially something similar here.
We don't really have all the rural counties data either at this point from the first day or two of early voting. So I'm confident the state will stay Republican and we will have Republicans from the top to the bottom. You've said that you would use every resource and tool available to President Trump's America First agenda.
I think you told us that here in this on the studio as well. Your opponent says the AG's job, though, is to represent Texas and not the president. If there's a conflict between President Trump and or Texas. Which side do you fall on? Well, look, I mean, my opponent has already said that he's going to abuse the office to sue President Trump and waste time and resources to do that.
I mean, look at the border, for example. That's promises made, promises kept. We secured the border. I was part of that. But but which side? Of course, if the state is in a legal disagreement with the president, where do you fall in that? Because you are a supporter of the president, but you also represent the state if you are elected attorney general?
Well, look, I'm a seventh generation Texan, Jason. I was born here. I'll be buried here. I'm always going to protect and defend Texas, and I'll tell you that, tell you this as well. The AG's office is there to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Right. Like, I'll go after rogue corporations, large corporations that are trying to defraud and harm Texans, and I will go after corruption and waste and fraud and abuse.
And it's a really simple rule. You steal from taxpayers, you go to jail. That's it. You said there's no separation of church and state in the Constitution. And you want to put, quote, God back in government. I believe you mentioned that in a podcast. What does that mean for the Attorney General's office?
What would that physically look like? If you leave the state Senate and are elected as attorney general? And secondly, does that mean that you would not represent Jews or Muslims or Hindus as vigorously as you might a Christian? Look, this is about enforcing the law. Right. And we changed the law. And I fought to change the law to put the Ten Commandments back into classrooms.
And that law has got to be defended and I will defend it. So that's a great example right there of that First Amendment right. And not only that, Jason looked at the end of the day. My opponent here, he was against that, right? He voted against the Ten Commandments law, and you're hearing the left say things like, it's harmful to display the Ten Commandments in schools.
Well, which part is harmful? Don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal. Honor thy mother. Thy father. I mean, these are things that children should be exposed to. These are the things that we should be teaching that next generation. Because of course, that is about values as well. These are very important.
Good to see you. Senator. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate you. Jason.
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Voters in Dallas will decide on whether to approve bonds to build a brand new police academy. Members of the Dallas Police Association would directly benefit. But that influential organization has been strangely quiet about this bond. Shawn Pease is the president of the DPA who takes our questions about that and why the DPA now supports saving Dallas City Hall.
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Sean, welcome to the program here. Thank you. The Dallas Police Association does not support City Hall being demolished and city government moving on from there. Why not? Here's my thing. I have city management that's telling me they can't afford to to give us competitive pay. Um, they just took away our insurance, our PPO insurance to save $10 million.
So we're in the world. Are we going to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars to even move the the seat of city government elsewhere? Where are we going to come up with money to demolish this building? Where are we going to come up with the money to, you know, build a new building? Will DPA actively push to save City Hall?
Right now, DPA is actively pushing that it needs to go to a vote, period, as it's written right now. The City Council could vote on its own to move on. Correct. To move on and not put this to a vote. And that's how come I'm saying our our main push is this needs to go to a vote. And the citizens need to decide what happens to their their seat of government.
Why why should you know the the council members end up choosing their better work place at the expense of the taxpayer. This is all about money for DPA, right? It's all about. It's all about the money. Um, you know, I understand that there's and I've I've been here since 1971. Um, city Hall is iconic for the city of Dallas.
What my concern is, I don't think the numbers that were being shown are the numbers that we need to make a decision. Um, because the numbers on on renovating City Hall are correct. And bringing it up to code. Correct. And city leaders say, listen, we love what police and fire do for us every day, but we just.
The city just cannot afford this right now. Correct that. But somehow, um, we have money available someplace to do, um, either renovation, demolition, or moving, you know, the seat of government elsewhere. And it it just doesn't compute in my mind on on how we make this happen. I want to ask you about the bond on the ballot here.
The Dallas voters are going to see to build a new police academy here. I really expected the Dallas Police Association to really be pushing this, but I really haven't seen that yet. Why not? I mean, the simple reason the city has refused to truly sit down and negotiate a contract. And I have told everybody all along, I love everything about this bond
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except the cost, because the costs are ridiculous right now. Um, but the problem is that's two, three, four years down the road. My contract expired October 1st, and nobody seems to really care about that other than the officers, and the firefighters are out there working without a contract right now.
Sean, thanks for the time. We appreciate it. Yeah, thank you very much. The roundtable is ready when we come back here on Inside Texas Politics.
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This is inside Texas politics with Jason Whitely. All right. Back now with roundtable to talk more politics. But Ashley Natalie all still here with us in. But let's start with you, Beau French running for railroad commissioner. The Republican decided not to debate after all, saying he never actually confirmed this debate.
That was supposed to happen last week in Dallas with John Rosenthal here. He says he never committed to it. But why aren't Republicans bragging about their policy positions, bragging about things they've done? They have done that every cycle over the last 20 something years, but not this cycle. Jason, you know, it's amazing to me.
The Republicans aren't just putting out ads about their bio and their background. Greg Abbott just put out his first ad about the stamina struggles he's gone through in his life. They really haven't introduced themselves in this campaign. They've just hammered away at the trans issue. This particular debate would have helped Beau French to get out there and say something besides what people have already made up their mind that he's all about it also.
But the big thing about him this week is that Donald Trump left Beau French off his recommendation list. I think we can probably move both French to the endangered list at this point. That was quite surprising. The true social post from the president. Let me ask you, though, Natalie, would a debate have mattered in this race for railroad commission?
You know, I'll say this, Jason, when I had the chance to interview a representative Rosenthal for Inside Texas Politics several months back, he said that likely the only thing he and Beau French agreed on was that the title of this position should be changed to Energy Commissioner, so that people better understood what this position was all about.
So in that regard, I do think that a debate would have been helpful because it would get voters more involved and give them a better understanding of what the position entails. Now, would it have helped otherwise? You know, this wasn't a race that was really in our faces. This is a race that I've often called a sleeper race, but I do think it would have given a chance for Texans to better understand it, and probably would have helped at least.
Rosenthal when it comes to down ballot, because Texas is still red, and if they are committed to red and voting a Republican ticket, they're going to go with friends, whether they know who or what he's about anyway. And that's what a lot of voters do, indeed. Ashley, let me ask you about Gina Hinojosa. She wants to see Governor Abbott's emails with Elon Musk, the latest Texas resident.
Abbott's office refused to release those she is now suing. Is something in these emails or is this a campaign publicity stunt here in the final days? Well, we don't know. Jason Wylie if there's something in these emails or not. Right? Her point is, I'm a state lawmaker. I'm not just any anyone off the street.
If I want to see the emails, I emails, I ought to be able to see the emails so I can learn about the deals that are being cut. I mean, you have a lot of backlash with Elon Musk potentially getting to take over a state beach, right? And I think that's what this goes to. Now is some of it about the race? Of course it is.
Do you think that if she finds something in the email, she's not going to use it for her campaign? She 100% would. But I think there's also something to be said about why in the reason, given that, you know, that she was told that it was too embarrassing and private communication. Well, what's too embarrassing that you communicated with the governor's office that the state rep shouldn't be able to see.
And either way, whether she gets them or not. Of course, she is getting the news cycle on this and people are talking about it. Guys, we appreciate it as always, and thank you for watching as well. We're back next Sunday to take you inside Texas politics. We hope to see you then. Don't forget to early vote if you haven't already.
Take care.