“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin predicted Thursday that voters will flip Texas blue in November for the first time in about 30 years as the panel discussed the tight race between Democratic candidate James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate.
“I think we will. I think we will see Texas go blue, actually. I really do,” Hostin remarked. “In September, not only one, but eight pollsters had Talarico ahead 51-45%. That is so significant given that a Democrat hasn’t won statewide office in 30 years.
“That same poll showed that he is leading Paxton among women, 56% to 40%. Among voters aged 18 to 29, 66% to 22%, and among Hispanics, 62% to 30%. We’re talking about Texas. He’s going to win this race.”
TEXAS VOTERS HAVE PLENTY TO SAY ABOUT WHETHER LONE STAR STATE COULD TURN BLUE
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin argued that Talarico’s edge in the Lone Star State was a referendum on President Donald Trump’s administration.
“I mean, the fact that Texas is in play speaks to the moment right now that people are so frustrated with the current leadership,” she said. “A Democrat hasn’t won statewide in Texas in over 30 years. I still think it could go either direction for Paxton or Talarico, but this is kind of a perfect storm, and it’s a mess of the president’s own making.”
Griffin agreed the state might flip blue, calling Talarico a good candidate. She argued that Sen. John Cornyn would’ve been a better Republican candidate over Paxton, who was endorsed by Trump and came out on top in the GOP primary.
A Fox News poll released in October found Talarico enjoying a net positive personal rating of 8 points among likely Texas voters (52% favorable vs. 44% unfavorable), compared to Paxton, who is underwater by 18 points (40% vs. 58%). Republicans are six times more likely to view Paxton unfavorably (32%) than Democrats do Talarico (5%).
FOX NEWS POLL: GOP DIVISIONS SHAPE TEXAS SENATE RACE
Likely Texas voters are split on control of the Senate: 49% prefer a Democratic Senate while 50% favor a Republican upper chamber. Eight percent of self-identified Republicans prefer the Democrats in power versus 1% of Democrats crossing over to pick the GOP.
All this gives Talarico a slim 2-point edge over Paxton (51-49%) in the poll among likely voters. These matchup results are within the margin of sampling error.
DEMOCRATS THINK A BLUE WAVE IS BUILDING. HERE ARE 3 FORCES THAT COULD STOP IT
Co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Ana Navarro cast some doubt on the positive polling for the Democratic candidate.
“Two-thousand sixteen left me scared,” Navarro said.
“I have hope. People should have hope, but hope alone won’t win an election. People got to turn hope into vote. And I don’t think they, you know, relying on polls and just kind of sitting back and getting complacent is something that nobody can afford to do if they want to see change.”
Paxton’s campaign did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
MEET THE VOTERS WHO COULD BREAK THE GOP’S DECADESLONG GRIP ON A REPUBLICAN STRONGHOLD
Trump campaigned with Paxton in San Antonio, Texas, Wednesday.
They both pointed to Talarico’s absence from campaigning at the event. The Senate candidate’s campaign responded to the criticism, explaining Talarico has been sick with the flu and is expected to return to the campaign trail this weekend.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
“Anyone taking seriously what Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin say about politics likely has a low enough IQ to qualify as a guest host on ‘The View,’” RNC spokesman Zach Kraft told Fox News Digital in a statement about the co-hosts’ remarks.
Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.
