Trump campaigns in Texas in last push for Republicans
President Donald Trump campaigned in Texas on Tuesday as part of his last push for Republicans running for office in the Lone Star State.
With just a week until the Nov. 3 midterm election, the campaign took him to rural Texas, where ranchers are suffering from economic and trade policies. The Republican president also went to one of Texas’ largest oil and gas ports as the industry continues to report job losses.
Trump first stopped in Lubbock, in the panhandle where rural voters have expressed widespread opposition to data center construction. Trump has consistently bashed Texans and Americans opposed to data centers, referring to them as wanting “to end up being backwards and poor.”
After Texans have vehemently opposed data center expansion, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued multiple data center directives, including a moratorium on new data centers, which Trump said was a “mistake.”
A new poll by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston found that nearly 70% of Texas voters are “extremely or very concerned” about the impact of data centers, including increased electricity costs and loss of water supply.
On another economic topic, Texas ranchers and farmers have long opposed Trump prioritizing importing beef from Argentina, describing it as “kicking Texas cattle raisers straight in the teeth.” They have also pointed to fertilizer shortages and increased costs resulting from Trump administration tariff policies and the conflict with Iran.
At a rally in Corpus Christi, where Texas is leading in oil and liquified natural gas exports, Trump reiterated his campaign pledge to “drill, baby, drill” in Texas. “Man, are we drilling now,” he said.
Throughout most of his administration, rig counts in Texas have been down, according to Baker Hughes data, The Center Square has reported.
According to Baker Hughes data for the week ending Oct. 23, Texas’ rig count was 277. That’s down from the previous week and from two weeks earlier. The data says, contrary to Trump’s claim, that drilling has not increased in Texas
Rig counts and drilling are tied to jobs in the upstream sector, the part of the industry that focuses on crude oil and natural gas extraction.
Under Trump, over the last year in particular, the Texas oil and gas industry upstream sector has consistently reported job losses. They’re attributed to increased costs that resulted in operators shutting down rigs, citing Trump tariff policies and the conflict with Iran, The Center Square reported.
Recognizing these challenges, Vice President JD Vance came to Texas to announce that the administration was using war-time authority to increase fuel production in the state, The Center Square reported.
While in Corpus Christi, Trump said the first one million barrels of Venezuelan crude had been transported to Texas refineries “at no cost to the United States or American taxpayer.” It will support American jobs, replenish reserves and increase domestic supply, he said.
After deposing Venezuela’s president earlier this year, the administration took economic ownership of Venezuela’s oil production, claiming it was the “biggest oil deal in world history.” The U.S. will control more than 65 billion barrels of “proven oil reserves” in Venezuela to secure “U.S. energy dominance for the next century — all at zero cost to the United States,” the administration said.
For large Gulf Coast refineries that process 100,000 to 200,00 barrels a day, one million barrels equates to roughly one week supply of oil, industry leaders have explained to The Center Square.
Trump’s claims come after gas prices consistently topped more than $4 a gallon in Texas this year. Texas has historically had lower gas prices than the rest of the country due to it being the top producing oil and gas state with the most refineries.
The yearly average of weekly regularly priced gasoline in Texas was up 21% over the year, according to U.S. Energy Information Agency data.
Early voting is underway through Friday in Texas. More than 5.1 million have voted, a record for the state, according to secretary of state’s data.
Democrats have surpassed Republicans by a margin of 100,000 votes, according to that data.
In the last three elections, Texas voters supported Trump. Polls show Texas voters, especially in south Texas, have soured on his policies, The Center Square reported. Poll after poll shows Republicans are in trouble in south Texas – a region that flipped red voting for Trump in the last two elections, The Center Square reported.
Republicans are seeing dropping support among key Hispanic voters citing the economy. Polls also show rural and Hispanic voters are also conflicted over Texas’ direction, The Center Square reported.
After Trump spoke at the Republican convention in Dallas in September, polling for Republicans dropped statewide, Attorney General Ken Paxton said. That’s according to a report in The Texas Tribune.
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