Washington DC [US], November 3 (ANI): Democratic candidate James Talarico has made a final appeal to voters in Texas ahead of the US midterm elections on Tuesday (local time), invoking the famous "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose" line from the television series Friday Night Lights as he urged supporters to give their all in the final days of the campaign.
"In the final days of this election, they're coming at us with everything they've got. We have to leave it all on the field. Because as every Texan knows: Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose," Talarico said in a post on X, accompanying the message with a video.
In the video, Talarico recalled the television series Friday Night Lights, which follows the Dillon Panthers, an underdog high school football team, and their coach, Eric Taylor.
Referring to a locker-room speech delivered by the coach in the show's first episode, he drew parallels between the team's determination ahead of a crucial game and his campaign's final stretch.
"In the final days of this election, they are coming at us with everything they've got. We have to execute. We have to leave it all on the field. We have to win. As every Texan knows: Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose," he said.
Talarico is the Democratic nominee in the 2026 US Senate election in Texas. He is running on a platform centred on taking his fight against corruption to Washington and restoring power to working people.
According to American statistician Nate Silver and the FLIPR 2026 midterm election forecast, Democratic candidates are leading in polling averages across several major battleground states, including Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Maine and Iowa.
In Texas, Talarico holds a 3.3-percentage-point lead over Republican candidate Ken Paxton, securing 49.8 per cent support against Paxton's 46.5 per cent, according to the forecast. Democrats are also ahead by three percentage points in Ohio, 4.9 points in Michigan, 3.9 points in Maine and 1.1 points in Iowa.
The US midterm elections are being held on Tuesday (local time), with more than 230 million eligible voters set to participate in deciding the balance of power in Congress.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate are being contested. Voters in 36 states will also elect their governors. Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress.
More than 57 million Americans have already cast their ballots through early voting, according to ABC News. Voters can also participate through mail-in ballots or by voting in person on election day.
With control of Congress at stake, the Texas Senate contest remains among the closely watched battleground races as candidates make their final appeals to voters ahead of polling. (ANI)
"Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose": Democrat Talarico makes final push in Texas Senate race ahead of US midterm polls
