Vice President JD Vance rallies Republicans in North Texas amid concerns over GOP turnout in early voting

Vice President JD Vance told the large crowd of supporters in Weatherford that the Texas Senate seat remains the big prize this midterm election - one Republicans need to keep. 

"I believe Texas is one of the most important Senate races in America," said Vance. "Let's give it up for Ken Paxton." 

He later vowed, "Texas ain't surrendering! Texas is not becoming California. It's going to stay Texas, ain't that right?"

Paxton remains locked in a battle with Democrat James Talarico, who has led most of the polls for months now. The Vice President called Talarico "a weirdo" and "an empty suit." 

He pointed to his record of fighting Big Tech corporations and the Biden administration more than 100 times over immigration and border policies, as well as other issues.  He also urged supporters to stay in the fight and reminded them about the assassination attempt against President Trump two years ago. 

"We know that our president, when he was in Butler, Pennsylvania, we know what he said, fight, fight, fight," Paxton said.

For his part, Talarico has criticized Paxton and reached out to Independents and Republicans who won't vote for Paxton.

"This isn't a partisan thing," said Talarico at a rally in Lubbock on Tuesday. "Republicans know just as well as Democrats that there is no place for guys like Ken Paxton in Texas. That's why these two parties that don't seem to agree on anything these days came together to impeach the most corrupt politician in our state." 

The Vice President and President Trump have each come to Texas four times since mid-September, including the RNC's first-ever midterm convention, to not only boost Paxton but also to energize Republicans to get to the polls.

 In Corpus Christi on Tuesday, Mr. Trump said, "Go out and vote. We don't want any surprises."

But Ryan Data and Research shows that through Tuesday, more than 800,000 people with a history of voting in one of the past four Republican primaries had still not shown up to vote. The same research showed that nearly 71,000 more people who cast their ballots statewide through Tuesday had a history of voting in the Democratic primary than in the Republican primary. That gap dropped to nearly 57,000 through Wednesday's early vote.

At the rally, Texas Comptroller Don Huffines, who's also on the ballot this year, sounded the alarm about early Republican voter turnout. 

"Right now, it is not going well," Huffines said. "You need to know that. You need to be scared."

Vinny Minchillo, a Republican consultant with clients across the country, told CBS News Texas that the Vice President must speak to them.

"He's got to get them to come out, and he's got to express to them the importance of this election," Minchillo said 

Minchillo said the Vice President should continue to remind voters about the accomplishments Republicans achieved. 

"If we lose the Senate and the House, those things are all going to go backwards," he said.

The Vice President told the crowd the stakes were high in this election. 

"I need you to send a message on November 3rd," said Vance. "That America belongs to those who love it, not to those who hate it." 

Republicans are hoping to catch up and surpass Democrats in the early voter turnout. If not, Republicans will be under more pressure to have a big turnout on election day. 

Watch Eye On Politics at 7:30 Sunday morning on CBS News Texas on air and streaming

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