Ken Paxton, James Talarico hit campaign trail ahead of early voting in Texas

EDITOR'S NOTE: Early voting begins Monday in Texas, and both candidates in the heated U.S. Senate race are making their pushes to get voters to the polls.

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A crowd of supporters and elected officials greeted Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton at Rockwall Municipal Airport as he kicked off an 18-day bus tour across Texas.

Paxton is facing Democrat James Talarico in a closely contested U.S. Senate race as both candidates work to build support ahead of the Nov. 3 election.  

"My message to the far left extremists who are destroying our Texas is 'Come and Take It,'" Paxton said. "That's the message of our entire tour."

Paxton unveiled his "Protecting Texas Promise Plan" at the event, outlining proposals to reduce medical expenses and make homeownership more affordable.

"It means a $25,000 deduction for out-of-pocket medical expenses," Paxton said. "That's for every single person in your family. It also means, if you like this, a first-time and second-time historic $50,000 downpayment deduction to help our young people get off the ground."

Paxton said the plan would also double the child tax credit and make Trump investment accounts for children under 18 permanent.

Supporters at the Rockwall event cited conservative values, the economy, and Paxton's record as Texas attorney general as reasons for backing his campaign.

"I believe Ken Paxton represents the values of Texas and certainly my values," Paxton supporter Michael Easter said. "He's done a good job as attorney general. There's been a lot of focus on his personal life, which I think you can make judgments on, but I don't think it affects his ability to do his job as attorney general."

Another supporter, Erin Easter, emphasized the importance of voter turnout in the closely watched race.

"It's important for us to still have energy behind this race because it's so consequential," Easter said. "The Senate races are very tight across the country, and we really need to, as Texans, show up for Ken Paxton."

Meanwhile, Paxton's Democratic opponent, Talarico, appeared at a CNN town hall in Fort Worth this week, where he highlighted his legislative record and discussed taxes and immigration.

"When I got elected to the state House, I brought Democrats and Republicans together to pass the first-ever cap on insulin co-pays in our state history," Talarico said. "We took it from $684 to $25 per prescription."

Talarico also discussed increasing taxes on wealthy Americans and criticized the Trump administration's immigration enforcement policies.

"We've seen under this administration a different kind of extremism," Talarico said. "We've seen masked men in unmarked vehicles kidnapping our neighbors off our street. We were told that ICE was going to go after violent criminals, and I support that. If you're an undocumented immigrant and you commit a violent crime, you should be deported immediately, but that's not what they're doing."

Talarico is scheduled to launch his own statewide tour, called "Clear Eyes, Full Hearts," on Sunday in Plano.

Paxton's tour is scheduled to conclude at the Alamo in San Antonio the day before Election Day.