Talarico Makes His Closing Pitch in San Antonio: 'We Are the Underdogs' at The Espee, a New Poll at 50-43, and Musk's $160 Million

James Talarico delivered a closing campaign pitch in San Antonio on Sunday, appearing alongside gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa at The Espee two days before the November 3 election, FWRD Axis reported. Addressing several hundred supporters on his 'Clear Eyes, Full Hearts' tour, Talarico cast himself as an underdog fighting powerful interests. 'San Antonio, we are the underdogs in this race. We are literally going up against the richest man in the world and the most powerful man in the world,' he said, in the account's reporting.

The closing argument leaned on Elon Musk's money. The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had contributed more than $160 million to Republican-aligned groups backing Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Talarico told the crowd, as the Journal carried it: 'He is trying to buy Texas. But on November 3, we're going to deliver a crystal clear message to the world's first trillionaire: Texas is not for sale.' FWRD Axis reported the same focus in his San Antonio remarks, with Talarico accusing Musk of attempting to purchase political influence and saying the powers that be had 'already bought and paid for Ken Paxton.'

The San Antonio stop landed the same day as the race's final major public poll. A New York Times/Siena poll released Sunday showed Talarico at 50 percent among likely Texas voters to Paxton's 43 percent, FWRD Axis reported; the Texas survey's margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.4 percentage points, and the gubernatorial contest in the same polling carried no clear leader. Polls are a snapshot, not a result: Bexar County vote centers are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the Senate race will be decided by the Texans who use them.