Texas Senate race tightens as hopefuls target crucial Latino vote

[00:00:00]In your eye on politics, various polls show the Texas Senate race is neck and neck tonight. Democrat James Talarico is hosting a town hall event in DeSoto. The Paxton camp hasn't announced when their next event will be held. As Eye on Politics reporter Jack Fink tells us, the candidates will need votes from the Latino community in order to win.

[00:00:19]>> James Talarico spoke about the economy, plus he and Ken Paxton touted their border security policies. A political analyst said South Texas will be critically important this November.

[00:00:32]>> Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico called it the frontier territory.

[00:00:36]>> Appreciate y'all.

[00:00:38]>> A five-city, 750-mile trip along the southern border. In Texas' Big Bend, Talarico stood with a bipartisan group of elected leaders to lay out what he calls his common-sense border security plan.

[00:00:52]>> We need more Border Patrol agents. We need more immigration judges. We need more surveillance technology. Both parties have failed us on our border.

[00:01:01]Most Texans don't want open borders.

[00:01:04]Most Texans don't want this corrupt border wall. What we want, what we need, is common-sense border security, and we need it today.

[00:01:13]>> As a state representative, Talarico and other Democrats opposed various state bills to clamp down on illegal immigration. At his news conference, Terrell County's Republican Sheriff Thad Cleveland criticized the Trump administration's plan to place a 4-ft vehicular barrier in areas of the Big Bend. He endorsed Talarico's plan, but not the candidate himself. And he said he won't back Republican Ken Paxton, either.

[00:01:39]>> Wow. I never thought I'd be standing here running for U.S. Senate. I can tell you that.

[00:01:44]>> In McAllen, Paxton held his first campaign event [music] since beating Senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary runoff. He emphasized his record of suing the Biden administration over for border policies, which resulted in record illegal immigration, according to government statistics.

[00:02:01]>> So, my view on immigration is we need a secure border, we need to protect our country, we need to make sure that we take care of America first.

[00:02:10]Now, I don't think my opponent, who you've heard his name before, I don't think he would be filing lawsuits against Joe Biden. I think >> Paul Perez, president of the National Border Patrol Council, endorsed Paxton.

[00:02:23]>> The critical question today is what are those >> Clifford Young, a pollster and a political science professor at Texas A&M's Bush School, said the South Texas region and the number of Latino voters there will play an important role in the midterm elections this November.

[00:02:38]>> Well, it's critically important, obviously. I see it as a canary in the coal mine.

[00:02:43]>> President Trump won most of the counties along the border in Texas in 2024, when illegal immigration was one of the top issues. But Young said while border security is still important, affordability is now the dominating concern, which could give Democrats an edge there.

[00:02:59]>> Latinos um are are are voicing their frustrations around again affordability.

[00:03:06]Um so, yes, I could see I I could see Latinos breaking more uh this electoral cycle for the Democrats than not.

[00:03:15]>> But Professor Young said it is still too early to say how much of an advantage Democrats could have in South Texas in November. Jack Fink, CBS News, Texas.