2026 Election: James Talarico vs Ken Paxton

Now, one of the closest watched Senate races in the country is right here in Texas, Republican Ken Paxton versus Democrat James Tallarico. Fox 7 Austin's Angela Shen will be following Tallarico's campaign tonight. She's joining us live in South Austin right now with the very latest. Angela. Yeah, we are here at the Long Center where Tallarico will be having his watch party. Not a lot going on right now. Earlier, some of the crews were just doing sound checks, but guests aren't going to show up here until 6. So we have a long night to go. Now, some of the polls ahead of Election Day showed Tallarico having a slight lead over Paxton. But, of course, anything could change. There's still a lot of people. There's still two hours to go for people to head to the polls. Now, the state representative first ran for Texas. We'll be right back. Now his platform is very much about the people versus corruption, and he wants to take big money out of politics. We are running against the embodiment of this corrupt system. We are running against the most corrupt politician in Texas history. Ken Paxton represents everything that's wrong with our politics. He doesn't serve us. He serves himself. And that was Tallarico at a get-out-the-vote rally at Stubbs with Gina Hinojosa yesterday. A final push ahead of today. We will keep you posted throughout the evening. Live in South Austin, Angela Shen, Fox 7 Austin News. Now, the other half of the U.S. Senate race in Texas is Republican Ken Paxton. He's the current attorney general for the state. Fox 7 Austin's Jenna King is live in Dallas tonight at Ken Paxton's campaign watch party with the very latest over there. Jenna. Yeah, hey Alec, we are here in Dallas at the Westin Gallery. Right now they're kind of giving us a lay of the land of what we can expect tonight. This evening doesn't start until around six, but the media is here, everyone is ready, and it is definitely going to be an exciting night ahead. But let's talk about Ken. Of course, over the years he has weathered scandals, Criminal charges, even an impeachment trial, and you could argue that the This is his biggest test yet, facing, of course, James Tallarico. Now, through his campaign, his come-and-take-it bus tour included more than 30 stops across Texas, including Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. The tour kicked off in Rockwall and ended, I did. and a late schedule change put him in Conroe on Election Eve. Paxton was originally scheduled to wrap up his bus tour at the Alamo in San Antonio, but made that last-minute switch. Ken Paxton took to the stage Monday afternoon Good afternoon, alongside Senator Ted Cruz, telling supporters that the future direction of the state hangs in the balance of this election cycle. Paxton says Texas needs to understand what's at stake this election. While Tellerico fights for his radical agenda, we fight for faith, family, and freedom. We fight for Texas's future. Paxson won the Republican Senate nomination after defeating a longtime incumbent, John Cornyn, in a May runoff. He served the Texas House starting in 2002, later in the Senate, before winning Attorney General in 2014. There, he built a high-profile national legal career challenging federal immigration policy, defended voter identification requirements, and voted for abortion restrictions. But his career has also faced significant legal issues. And political scrutiny. He was indicted on state securities fraud charges in 2015. Paxton was also later impeached by the Republican-led Texas House on allegations of bribery and abuse of office, though he was later acquitted. Things are just getting started over here. It is set to be an exciting night here. We're going to keep you covered throughout all of the action. And if you haven't voted yet, you still have until 7 o'clock to do so. But for now, we'll send it back to you. Thank you.