Donald Trump campaigns with Republican candidates at San Antonio rally
President Donald Trump spoke for nearly two hours at a rally in San Antonio Wednesday evening. The event aimed to urge Republican voters to turn out to the polls for upcoming elections. Crowds of MAGA supporters gathered at Freeman Coliseum. Multiple protestors interrupted the event and workers escorted them out.
The stop was the president’s third appearance in Texas in the past month. U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton addressed the crowd. Candidate for Texas’ 35th Congressional District Carlos De La Cruz also spoke. Both candidates rejoined Trump onstage later in the evening.
Paxton faces Democratic opponent James Talarico in a tight, expensive race. The rally took place near the newly redrawn 35th Congressional District. That district covers parts of Bexar County and rural counties east of San Antonio.
De La Cruz is an Air Force veteran and businessman. He is competing against Democrat Johnny Garcia, a Bexar County deputy sheriff. De La Cruz spoke of his family, faith and love of country. Garcia said the visit could be a good sign for his campaign.
“Desperate times call for desperate appearances,” Garcia said in an interview before the visit. State lawmakers redrew District 35 to favor Republicans. The redistricting aimed to flip seats held by Democrats. Some races have remained close.
“I’m seeing Republicans who were trying to get a net gain of five seats, realistically only getting maybe two,” Brad Johnson said. Johnson is a reporter and co-founder of the online publication Texas Bullpen. He noted that the GOP risks losing the District 15 seat.
Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz holds that seat. She faces Democrat Bobby Pulido, a Latin Grammy-winning singer. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added the contest to its nationwide “Red to Blue” program. That program aims to flip Republican seats.
“They sought to draw these maps based on the Hispanic vote margin. That’s kind of what ended up being the baseline if you looked at the data,” Renzo Downey said. Downey is a politics reporter with The Texas Tribune.
Redistricting occurs when state officials redraw voting boundaries to balance populations. These changes determine which voters cast ballots in specific local and federal races.
Downey noted Texas has its largest slate of competitive legislative and congressional races in years. The San Antonio gathering highlighted these major battleground districts across the state.
