TEXAS FLIPS BLUE: Talarico Beats Paxton, Hinojosa Stuns Abbott

Breitbart reports that Brooks County Sheriff Benny Martinez, a Democrat, turned up in an ad endorsing Ken Paxton. That's a fellow who wears the party's badge and still looked at the matchup and made his own call, which is more independence than most folks show at the feed store.

The race is tight. Fox's Guy Benson, writing in the Washington Examiner, cited a RealClearPolitics average with James Talarico at 49 and Paxton at 46.5, and he pinned the closeness partly on Paxton's baggage. The Daily Mail has Talarico closing in Austin by saying "I am done picking up his tab!" That's a strong line from a man whose own staffers were allegedly caught on undercover video, per The Post Millennial and RedState, discussing his moderate image. Go read that one yourself. A neighbor of mine ran as a moderate once, and the county noticed by lunch. A poll isn't a vote. Don't count your chickens.

“I am done picking up his tab!”James Talarico, via Daily Mail