2026 Election: San Antonio congressional race heats up
Political messaging as midterms get closer
The start of early voting for the midterm elections is now less than a month away. With time running out, Democrats and Republicans are both ramping up attack ads.
AUSTIN, Texas - The start of early voting for the midterm elections is now less than a month away.
With time running out, Democrats and Republicans are both ramping up attack ads.
Congressman Joaquin Castro vs opponent Edgar Baez
What they're saying:
The big races for Governor, Senator and even Lt. Governor have tightened up. A lot of focus certainly has been on the surge by Texas democrats, but several republican candidates are also trying to do some flipping, even targeting areas considered dark blue.
For example, Congressman Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from San Antonio, is getting some push back regarding his support for undocumented immigrants. His republican opponent, Edgar Baez, has described Castro as being out of touch.
"He has failed and abandoned the constituents instead of helping constituents. He goes out of his way to help the illegal immigrants. Anything that has to do with ICE and against Trump, he jumps into it," said Baez.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Latest update on man shot by ICE agent in Austin
It's been three days since an ICE agent shot a man in North Austin. Congressman Greg Casar gave an update on Wednesday after visiting the Venezuelan man in ICE custody.
Castro, on Friday, announced an Oct. 2 hearing on a proposed ICE detention center. Earlier this week, Castro made social media posts supporting a man who was shot during an ICE enforcement action in Austin.
Baez continued to hammer Castro by describing him as being out of touch. Baez ramped up the pressure following Castro’s statements earlier this week after an ICE enforcement action ended in gunfire here in Austin.
"And so, ICE has become an abusive rogue organization. They said that Homeland Security is going to do a joint investigation with the FBI. Homeland Security at this point has zero credibility. They have no credibility to do an independent, fair investigation. And so there needs to be an independent investigation on this case," said Castro on his social media site.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: November midterms poll numbers
A new poll shows the race for the U.S. Senate between Ken Paxton and James Talarico is now essentially tied. But the poll also shows a growing problem for one of the candidates within their own party
Baez admits he is running in a district that is considered a Democratic stronghold, but he believes his message is gaining traction on the neighborhood level.
"So, the message that we're trying to convey is that change is coming, it's a new change because the definition of insanity is to continue doing the same thing expecting a different result. Castro has been telling them the same rhetoric for 13 years, yet the West side is getting worse. The poverty level is 18.4. You know, the structure of public safety, everything that has to do with how we help the constituents, is getting worse and worse. So, the people are getting tired," said Baez.
Big picture view:
There were other notable Friday headlines from the campaign trail.
James Talarico challenged Ken Paxton to a debate and offered to do it on FOX News. So far, the only top of the ballot face off may be in the Railroad Commissioners race. Democrat Jon Rosenthal, who is running for Railroad Commissioner, claimed his republican opponent, Bo French, has agreed to debate in late October.
Dan Patrick also dropped a new campaign ad. It portrays him as a champion for rural Texans.
His Democratic challenger, Vikki Goodwin, is doubling down on her complaint about a social media attack ad by Patrick. She claims he delayed it after she filed a deepfake criminal complaint and is demanding he turn the post over to the Travis County Sheriff's Office.
The Source: Information from Edgar Baez, Republican Congressional challenger, Battleground Texas, previous coverage and reporting by FOX 7 Austin's Rudy Koski