Democratic hopeful James Talarico has lined up a roster of famous backers in his bid to flip Texas' U.S. Senate seat, from billionaire Mark Cuban and television science educator Bill Nye to the Chicks and Eagles co-founder Don Henley. The state representative from Austin and former middle school teacher has drawn endorsements, campaign appearances and checks from rock musicians, country stars and Hollywood actors as he tries to become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Texas since 1988.
The celebrity support has helped fuel record fundraising. It has also handed Republicans an attack line, with the Republican National Committee casting the Democrat as "more at home in California than in Texas." Newsweek reached out to the Talarico and Paxton campaigns via email for comment. Talarico holds a narrow edge heading into early voting, which runs October 19 to October 30 ahead of the November 3 election.
The most recent independent survey gave him his widest lead of the general election. A New York Times/Siena College poll released October 3 put Talarico at 51 percent and Paxton at 45 percent among 615 likely voters surveyed September 21 to 30 in English and Spanish. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
A Fox News poll conducted September 24 to 28 by Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research showed a tighter contest, with Talarico at 51 percent and Paxton at 49 percent among likely voters. That result fell within the survey's 3-point margin of error. More than half of respondents said they were concerned Talarico is too liberal, while 51 percent said they worried Paxton is too close to President Donald Trump.
Paxton's campaign has countered with an internal Pulse Decision Science survey showing the Republican ahead 48 percent to 45 percent. "Every serious pollster will tell you that our numbers have improved since early September," Paxton senior adviser Nick Maddux said. The race has hovered within a few points since Paxton beat Senator John Cornyn in the May 26 Republican runoff.
A June Times/Siena poll had the two tied at 47 percent. Texas Public Opinion Research found Talarico up 45 percent to 40 percent in late July, and an Emerson College/Nexstar survey from August 9 and 10 had Paxton ahead by a single point. Forecasters have moved toward the Democrat.
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