JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Now, it would be huge news if Texas elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate. That is something that hasn't happened in nearly 40 years. But even more significant, what happens in Texas will help determine control of the U.S. Senate. Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton faces Democratic state lawmaker James Talarico. The Texas Newsroom's Blaise Gainey has been reporting in Austin, out there talking to some voters, and joins us now. Hey there.
BLAISE GAINEY, BYLINE: Hey. How are you?
SUMMERS: I am well. So, Blaise, we are in the final sprint. Election Day is less than two weeks away. Tell us what things look like and sound like from where you are.
GAINEY: Yeah. Right now, campaigns are really just focused on trying to lock in votes. Both candidates are on statewide tours, and they're telling supporters to vote early. And numbers we're seeing so far indicate that voters are listening. In Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, first day voting was up about a third from the last midterm election. And here in Austin, I saw an hour-long line yesterday during work hours. When I was there, I ran into Stacey Vicari, a life coach who was trying to vote while in between clients. She wasn't able to because the lines were just that long. I actually followed up with her today, and she was able to beat the lines and cast her ballot. But she's excited to see that the lines are long and thinks it's a sign that people are eager to vote blue.
STACEY VICARI: I think everything's bad. I think people are hurting, and I think it's finally reaching people. And I think people have to have some personal pain in order to get motivated, and I think a lot of people are flipping.
GAINEY: And Texas is historically known as a red state. So the idea that people are flipping to vote blue is notable because just two years ago, Trump won the state by nearly 14 points.
SUMMERS: Yeah. That's right. And let's talk about the money for a minute here because this is also one of the most expensive Senate races in Texas' history. Tell us how that money is being spent to drive voters out to vote.
GAINEY: Yeah. A lot of the money is being spent on ads. As of last week, the advertising budget alone for this campaign reached more than half a billion dollars. And Elon Musk, the world's richest man, who's also a Texas resident, has given over 150 million to groups that ultimately back Ken Paxton. Now, while Talarico's campaign doesn't have a trillionaire making any donations, they are making a big deal about the fact that, candidate to candidate, Talarico has outraised Paxton, and much of that is from a large number of small donors instead of a few wealthy individuals. And his money has mostly gone towards advertising.
But money can't buy everything. I spoke with Julian Castro, a Democrat who worked under President Obama, and he now heads the Latino Community Foundation, which focuses on mobilizing Latino voters. A poll they conducted found that many in Texas have yet to be reached out to about campaigns.
JULIAN CASTRO: Well, our poll found that 45% of Texas Latinos said that they had not been contacted by anyone, either party or a candidate.
GAINEY: And I think that's evidence that money can't make up for real grassroots campaigning.
SUMMERS: Yeah. Absolutely. Let's focus in for just a moment on the candidates, if we can - starting with Paxton, a Republican. What's his challenge within his own party?
GAINEY: His biggest challenge is really getting Republicans to ignore his past scandals and instead focus on his conservative record as attorney general and his willingness to fight Democrats. He's also trying to convince them that Talarico is just way too liberal for Texas. And some voters do agree. I spoke with a Mexican American couple in Georgetown - that's about an hour outside of Austin - and they stressed their conservative beliefs. And this is Gilberto Cavazos explaining his support for Paxton.
GILBERTO CAVAZOS: So let's concentrate on what he's doing, what he's done, right? And yes, I wanted him to win.
GAINEY: And so in order to win, Paxton will need people like Gilberto, and those who may be less enthusiastic about voting for him as a candidate, to still show up and vote red.
SUMMERS: And last thing. Let's talk about Talarico. He's the Democrat. How could he pull this off and turn Texas blue?
GAINEY: Yeah. That's the million-dollar question. We expect Talarico to perform well in urban areas, like here in Austin, but what he really needs to pull off an upset are the suburban women in rural families who usually vote red or stay at home, to be upset enough to make it out to the polls and vote blue.
SUMMERS: That's the Texas Newsroom's Blaise Gainey reporting in Austin. Thanks so much.
GAINEY: Yeah. Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.