National party leaders, Gov. Greg Abbott and even actress Eva Longoria are all headed to campaign in San Antonio in the final stretch of the Nov. 3 election.
Longoria, a longtime Democratic activist who owns a home in San Antonio , will campaign alongside Democrats’ U.S. Senate hopeful James Talarico on Saturday afternoon at 1902 Nightclub.
Talarico‘s statewide campaign tour will also be back in San Antonio again on Nov. 1 — the day before his opponent, Republican Ken Paxton, plans to end his 30-stop bus tour at the Alamo on election eve.
The visits come as San Antonio finds itself at the epicenter of both the state and federal political landscape this fall.
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Democrats haven’t won a statewide office in Texas in more than three decades, but polls show a close U.S. Senate race between Talarico and Paxton, as well as a tightening Texas governor’s race between Abbott and Democrat Gina Hinojosa.
Hinojosa filled a 1,000-person campaign rally at an old airplane hangar on Brooks City Base on Oct. 19 — one of her largest events yet. Her mom, who lives in San Antonio’s King William neighborhood, was campaigning for her outside of the Las Palmas Library polling center on the first day of early voting.
Abbott, whose wife is from San Antonio, will campaign just outside of the city on Wednesday, at Texas Pride BBQ in Adkins.
Democrats’ path to a statewide victory entails boosting turnout in the urban centers where voter enthusiasm lagged two years ago — as well as winning back Hispanic voters who swung toward President Donald Trump.
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At the same time, San Antonio is also home to two targeted congressional races that could decide which party controls the U.S. House next year — and two of the only competitive state legislative races in all of Texas.
State and national party leaders are taking the contests seriously.
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), who could claim the speaker’s gavel if Democrats flip the U.S. House, will appear at San Antonio churches on Sunday with Democratic congressional hopeful Johnny Garcia.
Garcia is running in the new 35th Congressional District, which current U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) called the “whole enchilada” in the battle for the U.S. House.
At the state level, Republicans are trying to protect two GOP-held Texas House seats in San Antonio.
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) will rally with campaign volunteers for his party’s candidates in San Antonio on Thursday. The event is not open to the public, according to Burrows’ campaign.
