Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton drew several hundred to the auditorium of Willow Park Baptist Church on Tuesday night and told them why he thinks so many Republicans have tuned out: Things are going too well.

“We have an enthusiasm gap,” the GOP Senate nominee said. “It happens when you’re in a midterm election and the party in power often has trouble getting their voters out — especially in a Republican state, because those people think everything’s great.” 

Republicans, he suggested, have grown “apathetic” because the party has delivered.

Talk to voters across Texas who have backed Republicans for years, and you will hear something else entirely.

Zach Creel supported Donald Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024. This year, he does not plan to vote at all — and blamed Republicans who, he said, have not followed through on what they promised.

“Everything’s still bad,” Creel told MS NOW. “People can barely afford gas, groceries and et cetera. And it’s just — nothing’s changing.”

He is not alone in that sentiment. New polling from the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project finds that overall voter enthusiasm in Texas is about where it was before the last midterm: Roughly two-thirds of those surveyed say they are “extremely” or “very” enthusiastic about casting a ballot in November. 

But that topline conceals a partisan reversal: In August 2022, ahead of that year’s midterm elections, 52% of Texas Republicans called themselves “extremely enthusiastic” about voting. This August, just 39% were — a 13-point drop.

Collin Bohne, who calls himself a moderate and has voted for candidates in both parties over the years, sees the problem in the candidate. He is backing the Democratic nominee, state Rep. James Talarico, because he feels Talarico “genuinely has average people in mind.” And he raised a criticism Paxton has faced with growing frequency: that he is barely campaigning.

“He’s running a pretty low-energy kind of campaign,” Bohne said. “I don’t really see much of anything from him on any TV or social media platforms. He doesn’t seem like he does anything to create much excitement.”

Marina Hernandez, who described herself as “a Democrat with a MAGA family,” said the conversations at home have started to change.

“I think that they are maybe becoming a little more receptive,” she said. “They see the data centers being built. They see their gas prices going up.”

Inside the auditorium of Willow Park Baptist Church, Paxton spent much of Tuesday night on the contrast between himself and Talarico, casting his opponent’s agenda as “radical socialism.”

“I’ve gotten results from the people of Texas, and I’m running on my record, not rhetoric,” Paxton said. “James Talarico is the most radical Democrat ever to run statewide in Texas. Everything I just laid out puts money in your pocket. His entire record takes it out.” 

He also echoed President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims about election fraud, telling the crowd that California, New York and Chicago “already have their races rigged.” There is no credible evidence for that claim.

More than once, he raised the prospect of losing, casting it in existential terms for the nation. “If we lose Texas, we’ve lost the country,” he said.

The contrast in energy was visible some 220 miles south. In San Antonio the same evening, the line for a Talarico rally snaked around the venue, with some supporters wearing “Talafreako” T-shirts or carrying “Talarico for Texas” signs.

The event featured “loteria,” a Mexican game of chance similar to bingo. Attendees took 16-square cards mixing traditional images — la bota, the boot — with campaign-themed additions such as “New American Dream.” A mariachi band opened with “El Rey,” a popular Ranchera song.

After a few rounds and speeches from guests, Talarico took the stage to cheers. He stuck largely to his message: closing tax loopholes for billionaires, spending on healthcare rather than what he called forever wars in the Middle East and protecting immigrant neighborhoods.

He said he is running like an underdog until the last vote is counted, then told the crowd he is leading and intends to outwork Paxton.

“I feel it in my bones that we are going to win this election on Nov. 3,” he said.

The room burst into applause as he made a vow: “We are going to end 30 years of one-party rule in this state.”

The post Paxton blames GOP ‘enthusiasm gap’ on Republican success. Texas voters disagree. appeared first on MS NOW.

From MS Now.