Senate races take center state in Texas, Maine

Here is a live picture. Oh, it doesn't look that nice. Looks like it's a bit rainy and yucky. This is a live picture of San Antonio, Texas. Check this out. 43.5 million people have already cast their ballots with just four days to go until those midterm elections. Today's the last day for early voting in several states, including Texas. We have Asher Redd. Now he's in Dallas. I wonder what the weather looks like there. Doesn't look as bad as it looks in San Antonio. Good afternoon. Well good afternoon Jen. I mean there are six Senate races in states where the outcome really could depend on voter turnout and one of those states is right here in Texas. Now taking a look behind me you'll see the voting center I'm standing in here in Dallas. There's a constant trickle of people coming and going but no long lines. Now J.D. Vance, the vice president, was in Texas yesterday trying to rally Republican voters to hit the polls. Take a listen. Ladies and gentlemen, Texas ain't surrendering. Texas is not becoming California. It's going to stay Texas. Ain't that right? And the Associated Press says more than 21.5 million people nationally have already voted in person, while 19 million people mailed in their ballots. Here in Texas, more than 6 million people have voted so far, and the latest Fox News power ranking shows only 1% of registered voters are still undecided. And here's what some last-minute early voters are looking for. I do believe that we do need safer borders, but I think the way that we've been going about it has been a little wrong. I think that the Democrats just want to spend our money. I think they want to promote socialism and spreading our money around, and I can't afford that. I think in the case of Ken Paxton, it was just a little bit too much as far as some of the scandals and something that had been going on. The Texas Senate race has become one of the hottest races in the country with Republican candidate and MAGA firebrand Ken Paxton trying to fend off, rather, Democrat James Tallarico. Well, Tallarico has a shot to flip a Texas Senate seat blue for the first time in more than 30 years. Now, both candidates are neck and neck in this race, so down the home stretch, they've been pleading with their supporters to not sit this election out. Midterm elections are always tough for the party in power and it's just been that way at it. I don't know what the explanation is. Look, we're gonna win this race. Texas is not gonna vote for a socialist. We are the underdogs in this race. This election is a battle between the powers that be and the powers that ought to be. A recent Fox News poll shows that only 64% of registered voters here in Texas are even expected to vote in this election. Jen? All right, thank you so much. We appreciate the help. Have a great weekend. I know you guys are working hard out there. All right. We talked yesterday about how beef prices was a big issue in Texas. Well, apparently energy costs are really a big deal when it comes to voters in the Northeast. Heating oil prices up 70 percent this year versus last year. So we do have Kaylee Schuyler. She is in, I'm going to pronounce it right, I hope, Kittery, Maine. You got it. Yep. So I've been in this state, Jen, for the better part of the last month talking to voters and affordability is certainly on their minds. But more specifically, the cost of home heating oil, just like fuel prices, the cost of home heating oil is hitting record highs. And when I've been talking to voters about this, they say they are concerned that they could struggle with higher heating bills this winter. It's getting cold. It's not getting any cheaper. And I'm looking at a thousand dollars to fill a tank, You know, when our bill came through, our heating oil bill was so much more higher than it had ever been, ever been, I think it affects everybody that we know. Heating oil prices on the East Coast are sitting on an average of $6.20 a gallon. Last year, it was $3.60. Specifically here in Maine, the average is $6.02 a gallon. That's $2.79 more from a year ago. Now, the Maine Senate race could be key in deciding which party has control of the Senate. And Republican Senator Susan Collins is highlighting federal heating assistance that she's worked on in DC. Meanwhile, Democrat Troy Jackson is criticizing Collins and the Trump administration blaming rising energy costs on the war with Iran. Some 315,000 barrels of home heating oil will be released for New England. I'd be advocating to get out of Iran. I mean, you know, the LIHEAP program obviously is crucial for seniors, low-income people, but there's a lot of middle-class people that don't know how they're going to be able to heat their homes this year. And the latest poll from Fox News shows that this race is a dead heat with both Collins and Jackson polling at 49% among likely voters. Jen? Yeah, it's going to be crazy all over all day Tuesday. I know you guys are going to be in the field. We're going to be here. It'll be interesting to see what actually happens Wednesday morning. I always say this. They do the polling. We report on it, all of that. But it comes down to who actually leaves their house to vote, right? You're exactly right. And so early voting here ended yesterday and more than 275,000 ballots have been accepted and returned, which is on pace with the 2024 presidential election, but it is way past the pace of the 2022 midterms. So that's something that we're hearing from both of the candidates is that it's not just Tuesday, that's election day. Election day has been really this whole entire month since early voting started. But, of course, they're still pushing more and more people to go out, canvass, encourage people to vote, try to... Sway the 2% of undecided voters that are still here. Yep. A lot of work to be done for all the parties. Thank you so much. Have a great weekend. Thank you. You too.