WEBVTT - Election Night: Paxton Defeats Cornyn—What Happened, Why & What’s Next 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.120 Welcome in his verdict with Center, Teed Cruz, Ben Ferguson 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:05.480 with You and Center in his Election Night. We're doing 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:07.880 a dual pod right now for our show and my 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:11.399 show as well. There's one big takeaway. It was a 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:14.960 great election night in general for conservatives all over the country. 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:17.680 Well, we had election night in Texas and it was 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.240 a big election. It was a consequential election. We had 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:23.880 the runoff for the US Senate race, and we now 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:28.000 know with absolute certainty that come January I am going 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:30.200 to be serving with a new senator from the state 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:33.560 of Texas. We had the Republican runoff between my current 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:38.239 colleague John Cornyn and his challenger, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:43.959 and Paxton won decisively, a big double digit victory. We're 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:46.479 going to break down what happened in election night and 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:49.040 what it means for Texas. We're also going to break 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:52.479 down what's next in the general election. Who is the 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:56.560 Democrat nominee, This James Tallerrico guy, and I'll warn you 0:00:57.040 --> 0:00:58.840 it ain't pretty. We're going to get into that in 0:00:58.920 --> 0:00:59.840 detail right now. 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:02.920 Yeah, he's definitely a radical, and we're going to let 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:05.440 all of America understand exactly who he is. 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:07.640 Want to take a moment, though, and talk to. 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:10.600 You about your dog, whether it's old, young, we got 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.319 a new puppy. There is something that you can give 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:16.480 your dog to make sure that your dog has the 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:18.720 best life ever, and it's called rough greens. 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:19.480 I tell you. 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:23.200 Moving from the puppy years to old age brings in nostalgia. 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:25.919 Remember the day you brought your puppy home, the tiny paws, 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.319 that wagging tail, the spark in their eyes, and man, 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.360 that energy that just wouldn't quit. 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They make any dog better, 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:48.640 So center this is one of those that is a 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:55.080 very interesting case study. In Traditionally, if you are an establishment, 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:59.200 if you are an incumbent, you have a massive advantage. 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:01.120 You have a lot of fun unraising that comes in. 0:03:01.160 --> 0:03:03.320 You've got a lot of Washington money that comes in, 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:05.359 you have special interest money like you got a lot 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.760 of advantages and usually a bigger microphone. What we have 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:11.880 learned so far through this whole process around the country 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:15.400 is just because you have that. If Donald Trump decides 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:18.440 that he wants to go against you and wants to 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:22.040 back another America First Kennedy he believes will serve the 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.560 interest of his agenda better, you could be in serious trouble. 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.280 We watched it happen in Louisiana, We've now seen it 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:29.720 happen in Texas well. 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:31.960 I think that's right. There was an awful lot going 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:34.120 on in this race. Let's let's start off just with 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:36.680 the results. So we're sitting here, it's right now eleven 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:41.640 forty three pm Tuesday night, Election night, and as of 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:44.080 right now, this is with ninety two percent of the 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:47.280 results in Ken Paxton is getting sixty four percent of 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:50.480 the vote. John Cornyn is getting thirty six percent. So 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:53.880 that is, as of right now, eight hundred and fifty eight, 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:56.880 five hundred and forty seven votes for Ken Paxson, Oh 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.440 just bumped up eight hundred and sixty two, one hundred 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:02.640 and fifty votes Ken Paxton to four hundred and eighty 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:05.880 four thousand, six hundred and twenty five for John Cornyn. 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:08.800 So that is nearly a thirty point victory, a twenty 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:11.040 eight point victory. We'll see what the final numbers are 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:14.760 when all the votes are tallied. But that is a 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:15.600 massive win. 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:17.600 And yeah, that represents it. 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:19.880 That is that's a blood bath for any incumbent, I 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:22.120 don't care if you're a Republican or Democrat. And that's 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:25.000 how the media is treating it as well well. 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:28.120 And it represents a sea change. So John Cornyn has 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:31.640 been in the Senate for twenty four years. He has 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:35.039 been an institution in the Senate. He was the Majority 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:37.200 Whip of the Senate, so he was the number two 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:41.320 elected Republican in the Senate. He served that position for 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:45.560 six years. John Cornyn ran for Majority leader when we 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:49.679 took the majority. When Mitch McConnell stepped down as Majority leader, 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:54.839 John Cornyn ran against John Thune and it was a 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:58.039 close election. John Cordyen obviously did not prevail, but it 0:04:58.080 --> 0:04:59.839 was a vote that was decided by just a couple 0:04:59.839 --> 0:05:04.440 of votes. And and so John Cornyn in a different 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:08.559 universe would have been the Majority leader of the United 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:09.720 States Senate right now. 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:10.719 Uh. 0:05:10.839 --> 0:05:13.880 And and instead he has faced an election where he 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:19.000 lost by twenty eight points. Now, there were a number 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:22.120 of factors at play there, and I will say Donald 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:25.960 Trump endorsed and endorsed late, and there's no doubt it 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:29.760 had a very significant impact. That that being said, Uh, 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:32.919 most of the polling that that was in this race, 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:36.880 even before the Trump endorsement, showed that Paxson was going 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:39.720 to win and was likely to win with a sizeable victory. 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:42.920 And so I think the Trump endorsement certainly grew that 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:46.120 margin of victory and and and made it the dramatic, 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:49.719 the nearly thirty point victory that it was. But I 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.760 think one of the factors that that caused President Trump 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:55.440 to endorse is he was looking at the same polling 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:58.279 everyone else was looking at that showed showed Paxson with 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:00.680 it with a significant lead in the race to begin with. 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:04.240 There are a lot of reasons for this, but in 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:10.120 many ways, this race played out as a traditional conservative 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:13.800 versus establishment primary, and that's a primary. I know a 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:17.400 lot about my race fourteen years ago when I was 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.919 elected to the Senate, was very much the same dynamic 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:24.560 where I was running against David Dewhurst. He was the 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:29.960 city lieutenant governor, He had universal name ID, he had 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.280 over two hundred million dollars, so he wrote a thirty 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:36.960 five million dollar check to his own campaign, and I'd 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:40.720 never been elected to nothing like literally the last thing 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:44.240 I was elected to was student council. So I was 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:45.960 at two percent in the polls. 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:48.400 Ahead of you technically because I did win like I think, 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:51.040 class president freshman year in college. So I even had 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:52.920 more currencies than you did at that moment. I just 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:55.640 want to make sure that the audience understands that right. 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:59.200 Now, it was an impossible race. And yet what we 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:02.200 saw when I was elected in twenty twelve is we 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:06.599 saw the conservative grass roots come together and we ended 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:10.440 up going from two percent in the polls to winning 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:13.000 by double digits in the primary and winning by double digits. 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:16.560 We won the primary by fourteen points, and we won 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:18.760 the general by sixteen points. And so it was an 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:24.120 amazing victory of the conservative grass roots against the person 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:28.720 everyone thought was the unbeatable front runner. This Cornn Paxton 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.600 race had had similar dynamics. The money in this race 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:36.360 was massive, So this is now shattered records, Yeah, for 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:40.240 the single most expensive Senate race in American history in 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:40.840 a primary. 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:43.800 In this race, I mean we're talking more than usually 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:46.280 spent in a general election by a lot. 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:49.520 So just in phase one of the primary, over one 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:53.600 hundred million dollars was spent. I think when you tally 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:56.000 the runoff, it will end up being well north of 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:58.880 one hundred and fifty million dollars spent in this primary, 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:02.720 and the overwhelming that ninety plus percent of that was 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:07.800 spent supporting John Cornyn. So Paxton spent relatively little money 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:13.000 and won by an overwhelming margin. Now one of the 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:18.040 consequences of this is is the Democrats they are looking 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:20.960 to attack Ken Paxton. He is a conservative Kent Both 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:23.840 Ken and John are friends. I've served with John Cornyon 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:27.600 fourteen years. He and I are very different senators, but 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:30.920 we've worked well together and and we've worked in a 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:34.560 cooperative and collegial way. That's part of how you represent 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:39.880 your state. And at the same time, Ken Paxton has 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:41.720 been been a friend of mine for a long time. 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:45.200 Both Paxon and corn and I've supported previously. I've campaigned 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:50.800 with them previously, I have campaigned for them previously. Paxton, objectively, 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:55.439 I believe has been the most conservative state attorney general 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:58.360 in the country. Is a strong record as a conservative 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:00.120 state ag and that was a big part of of 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:07.120 why he prevailed, and that was driving his momentum long 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:11.720 before President Trump made his endorsement. That being said, there 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:14.120 are a lot of nasty personal attacks that have been 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:18.600 leveled at Ken Paxton, and the odds are precisely one 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:23.720 hundred point zero percent that we will see millions and 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:26.400 millions of dollars of attack ads in the general election, 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:31.200 bringing up every one of those personal attacks and going 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:35.720 after him viciously. The Democrats are not gonna play nice 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:38.760 because they see a chance. The Democrats believe they have 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:41.280 a chance to win the general and I got a 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:46.640 message to Republicans in Texas and nationwide, do not take 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:50.800 this general election for granted. At that it is easy 0:09:50.840 --> 0:09:52.960 to say it's Texas, it's red, We're gonna win, and 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:56.400 I believe we are gonna win. But I also think 0:09:56.480 --> 0:10:00.960 the Democrat nominee, James Tallerico, is a dane risk candidate. 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:04.920 There was obviously a massive victory that happened in this 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:07.679 country with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, But what 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:10.320 it really meant was the issue of abortion would go 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:13.360 back to the States, and that is where the real 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:14.880 fight has actually begun. 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:15.360 Now. 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:18.800 Over the past fifty years, Americans United for Life has 0:10:18.840 --> 0:10:22.600 filed more than two hundred legal briefs and also helped 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:25.840 create at least four hundred pro life bills in over 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:31.160 forty states. By writing model legislation, they are consulting with 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:35.120 state legislators and defending their own laws and other pro 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:36.840 life statues in court. 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:37.200 Now. 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:41.920 Aul's dual front approach of writing and defending legislations proved 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:45.679 an effective one that could become even more impactful as 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:50.079 pro life state legislators moved to enact protections for preborn 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:54.440 babies and their mothers. Now that the legality of abortion 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:58.640 has returned to the states, that is where you come in. 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:02.520 You and I have the opportunity to overturn pro abortion 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:07.040 laws and advance pro life legislation that attacks the most 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:11.840 vulnerable in our society, from the womb to the tomb. Together, 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:15.360 we can shape the future of our nation through life 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:19.880 affirming legislation in every state. Now, a gift of just 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:25.280 twenty five dollars helps hold abortion providers accountable and helps 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:29.880 protect women and unborn children across this country, and now 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:35.040 through a match, your gift is doubled. Donate securely at 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:42.439 AUL dot org slash verdict. That's a UL dot org 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:48.520 slash verdict sponsored by Americans United for life before we 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:50.440 get to Before we get to James, I want to 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:53.560 just go back and let people understand the basis for 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:57.480 why you have that warning. You have been in the 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:01.360 same position in many ways that Kins walking into. You 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.920 have a Democratic party that is very energized, you have 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:07.360 a Democratic party that is well funded. You have a 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:11.400 Democratic party that sends massive amounts of cash into Texas 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:17.560 against a Conservative and you were the number one target 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:19.800 maybe twice in your career. I think it may be 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:24.280 fair to say by Democrats wanting to get rid of you, 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.040 and the majority of the money coming into that race 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:30.480 was from outside interest groups outside the state. Massive amounts 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:32.640 of money come from place like California and New York. 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:35.719 And the reason why you said your warning the way 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:39.040 that you just said it is because they do get 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:41.440 better at this over time, not worse, said it. They 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:43.240 start to realize where they messed up, where they may 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:45.680 be spent money shouldn't have spent, and they get smarter 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:48.120 and smarter. That's part of the reason why you're saying 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:50.319 this warning, not just in Texas but around the country. 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:55.079 Yeah. Look, I have been there before, both of my reelects. 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:58.400 I was Chuck Schumer's number one target in the country. 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:01.080 And so they've thrown everything in the kitchen sink trying 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:03.880 to take me out, and I've been there. They're getting 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:07.120 ready to do that to Ken Paxton. And actually there 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:10.560 is potentially a real analogy between twenty twenty six and 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:14.199 twenty eighteen. Twenty eighteen was my first reelect. Yeah, twenty 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:18.400 eighteen was two years after Donald Trump was first elected president. 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:22.240 In twenty eighteen, you had several things going on. Number one, 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:27.319 the left was enraged. They hated Donald Trump, so they 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:32.360 were energized and they showed up in massive, massive numbers 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:36.319 in twenty eighteen. And also, two years into the administration 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:40.200 without Trump on the ticket, there was some complacency and 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:43.959 so cross the country, Republican turnout was not nearly as 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.480 high as it had been. And those two together are 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:49.640 a dangerous combination. What did that mean in twenty eighteen, 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:52.840 Let me let me give you just what we faced 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:59.320 in that year. The Democrats more than doubled their turnout 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:04.000 in Texas. They drove Democrat turnout from one point eight 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:09.319 million all the way up to four million, more than 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:13.800 two x. Now, my campaign, as you know, and you 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:17.280 know my campaign team, well we're obsessively numbers and data driven. 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:21.000 We saw all of that happening. We saw the surge 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:24.040 and Democrat turnout, Democrats who had never shown up coming 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:28.320 out to vote, and so we set out to drive 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:32.560 up Republican turnout. I did a fifty stop bus tour 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:36.680 across the state, spent six weeks barnstorming the state, spent 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:39.600 a lot of time in rural Texas and deep East Texas, 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:43.560 in West Texas, in the Panhandle. You've got conservative voters 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:47.200 there who historically don't show up in midterms. They typically 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:49.640 stay home. And I was ringing the bell saying, look, 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:53.680 if you stay home, we will lose the state of Texas. 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:56.840 We ended up driving was public. 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:01.160 I was around that campaign, and it was we were nervous. 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:03.800 By the way, when did you actually feel good in 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:07.160 that year about like having a victory that day? If 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:09.960 I remember correctly, till the very end, there was not 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:12.400 a lot of like swagger in the campaign, like, hey, 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:13.400 we got this thing. 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:16.280 Well and there's a reason for that. So we drove 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:20.080 Republican turnout from two point eight million all the way 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:25.200 up to four point two million. Yeah, so I won 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:28.200 by point two I won by two hundred thousand votes 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.920 out of more than eight million votes cast statewide. The 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:37.760 margin was two point six percent. And yeah, look a 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:41.560 lot of observers, I'll tell you the Beto o'rourarq campaign. 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.080 I was running against Beto Ourke, and he was particularly 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:46.400 the first time he ran, which was against me. He 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:52.120 was a remarkable candidate, charismatic, became a national phenomenon. That 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:54.760 twenty eighteen race, at the time was the single most 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.400 expensive Senate race in US history. That's how much they 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:01.120 wanted to take me out. To give you a sense 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.800 of the kind of financial mismatch, because I was outspent 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:06.880 three to one in that race. In the third quarter 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:09.120 of twenty eighteen, I raised to wine. 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:13.200 By the way, in politics, you don't usually win when 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.280 you're down three to one. Just so people understand how 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:18.720 much outside influence money came in. 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:20.920 So let me give you a little bit of the math. 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:25.240 Third quarter of twenty eighteen, I raised twelve million dollars 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.360 in hard money people going to my website contributing money. 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:32.640 That was at the time the record for the most 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:35.720 hard money any Senate candidate had raised in a single 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.920 quarter in the history of the state of Texas. Wow, 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:40.560 do you know how long my record lasted. 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:44.000 I'm going to guess, like three seconds. 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:44.880 Two hours. 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:47.000 It took two hours. There we go. 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.160 So my record was twelve million. It was the most. 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:52.160 The old record had been like eight or nine million. 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:54.400 So I had beaten the old record by a decent margin. 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:58.240 My record was twelve million. Two hours later, Beto O'Rourke 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:00.640 reported his numbers. What do you think he raised that quarter? 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.960 I see if I remember it was it like almost 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:04.960 double what you had. 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:08.760 No, it was thirty eight million. It was more than 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:11.840 three x I had twelve. He had thirty eight in 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:15.520 one quarter. That was the kind of dynamic we were facing. 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.879 And I'm gonna tell you the Beto campaign was shocked 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:21.399 to lose. They believe they had won that race. They 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:25.199 went into election night thinking they'd won. They had confetti 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:28.640 cannons on the stage because they're looking at the numbers 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:31.680 and they're saying, Okay, we've more than double turnout. Game over, 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:32.600 like like. 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:37.040 If they had unlimited spending power against you, because the 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:41.240 entire Democrat machine from DC to California was in to 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:44.040 take you out. So if you've got unlimited funds and 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:48.120 you double the turnout, in theory, you should absolutely win 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:48.639 that race. 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:51.879 So twenty twenty six has a lot in common with 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:54.720 twenty eighteen. It's two years in to the beginning of 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:59.119 another Trump presidency. The left is highly energized. They're raising 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:02.359 a ton of money me. They hate Ken Paxton just 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:05.000 like they hate me. They're going to raise a mountain 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:08.280 of money against him. And I guarantee you leftists are 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:10.280 going to be energized and show up to vote. And 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:13.119 the challenge is much the same as twenty eighteen. I 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:16.240 called Kendnight, I congratulated him. He was obviously very happy, 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.800 and I said, listen, I'm all in. You have you 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:21.879 have my total support. I'm going to do everything I 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.119 can to help you, to help you raise money, to 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:26.399 help you turn people out, to help you with the grassroots. 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:31.119 We've got to win because the races is dangerous and 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:34.400 and and the left is coming after him, and their 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:38.800 candidate is very reminiscent of Beto O'Rourke now now James 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:44.080 Tall Rico. He was a state rep. But and he's 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:47.200 someone whose substantive views are really extreme. You know, last 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:51.919 podcast we did, we highlighted Graham Plattner, the the the 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:56.119 communist with a Nazi tattoo in Maine, who is the 0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:59.639 Democrat nominee in Maine. And we talked about just how 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:02.879 extra even crazy the Democrat Party is. Well, James Tallerco 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:07.719 is absolutely extreme. We're gonna break that down in just 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:10.560 a minute. But I will tell you what makes Tallarrico dangerous, 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:14.720 and that worries me is he packages it in this 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:20.919 very nice, aw shucks demeanor. Yeah, and he sounds like 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:26.719 a preacher. He went to seminary, so he is a 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:30.600 licensed preacher, and any much of what he says he 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:35.520 quotes Biblical verses. And what worries me is someone who's 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:39.280 not paying attention much to politics. Mike turn on the 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:42.119 TV and look at him and say, oh, he seems 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:45.520 like a nice young man. And for me, I would 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:48.760 rather my wolves come in Wolve's clothing rather than look 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:52.159 like a sweet, inoffensive, nice young man who happens to 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:56.320 be an extreme radical left winger. I'd rather they be 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:58.520 out in the open and let you know exactly. 0:19:58.119 --> 0:19:58.800 Who they are. 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:01.640 Into who this guy is here. 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:07.240 Because you go back to twenty twenty two, James Tallerico 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:12.360 said it is ex essential, all right to reduce meat consumption. 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:13.640 What was that word again? 0:20:14.280 --> 0:20:15.040 Ex essential. 0:20:15.640 --> 0:20:17.280 You're gonna mock me on You're gonna mock me on 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:19.119 the show to night, aren't you. I've been talking a 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:19.840 long time. 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:23.639 Today, Ky, try that word. There's a there's a tad. 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.560 Good, I'll take the masterclassroom. You go ahead and say 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:29.320 the word that I'm having a problem with the night. 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:32.320 I'm just I'm more than happy at midnight for you 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:33.719 to say that word on my behalf. 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:37.080 That would be existential, existential. 0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:40.040 There we go. Good, I can I can copy the word. 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:44.119 It's not that he has extra sensory abilities. That's something different. 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:47.159 If he had esp that, that would be a different story. 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:49.760 The lickings I take. It's unbelievable. 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:54.439 So back to twenty twenty two and James, this is 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:57.199 a guy that in Texas. I said this on on 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:00.480 Harris Faukner Show on Fox Today, and they were talking 0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:04.120 about the prime in Texas. We like meat in Texas. 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:08.080 We are ranchers, we are farmers. We're not vegans. We 0:21:08.119 --> 0:21:11.520 don't do this like mystery fake meat stuff like that's 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:12.520 just not who we are. 0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:15.639 But this is what he doesn't want you to know 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:16.240 about him. 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:19.400 Back in twenty twenty two, as a principal by the way, 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:23.200 while saying this, he was wearing a mask. The COVID 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:25.960 mass for the press conference. Here is in his own words, 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:26.920 take a listen. 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:31.600 What we have I think heard more and more issues 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:34.240 of animal welfare. I think not just because it's the 0:21:34.359 --> 0:21:35.919 right thing to do and the moral thing to do, 0:21:36.359 --> 0:21:39.159 but also it's, as all of you know, necessary to 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:42.880 fight climate change. It is now existential that we try 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:45.760 to reduce our meat consumption and that we try to 0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:49.720 respect animals in all aspects of society. And so I 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:53.520 am proud to say that our campaign has officially become 0:21:53.560 --> 0:21:59.639 a non meat campaign. So we we are only buying 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:03.320 vegan products from from our local vegan businesses. Some of 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:05.720 you may know big nonas. They were little nonas and 0:22:05.760 --> 0:22:08.479 then they opened up brick and mortars and their big nonas. 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:11.119