Campaign signs are shown outside Las Palmas Library on the first day of early voting for the 2026 midterm election.
(Andrea Drusch / San Antonio Report)

This story first appeared in the San Antonio Report.

In the final days of the 2026 midterm election, state and national figures are swarming San Antonio to rev up local voters who could play an outsized role in a pivotal election.

Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful James Talarico‘s statewide campaign tour will make its last stop here on Nov. 1 — the day before Republican nominee Ken Paxton is ending his 30-stop bus tour at the Alamo.

President Donald Trump rallied here earlier this month, weeks after U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) visited a Southside VFW.

The moves come as two Democrats viewed as potential 2028 presidential contenders are helping San Antonio-area congressional candidates, and Johnson's Democratic counterpart, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) will campaign here on Sunday.

No part of the country has seen a greater political swing than South Texas in recent years, where Trump set a high-water mark when carrying the state by 13.5% in 2024.

Now the GOP hopes to continue that trend to win a number of redrawn congressional districts this cycle — despite poll after poll showing Republicans struggling to hold onto Trump's coalition.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), right, visited a VFW Post on San Antonio’s South Side on Wednesday to campaign for 35th Congressional District Republican nominee Carlos De La Cruz. (Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report)

Nowhere is that dynamic on greater display than Texas' 35th Congressional District, which was drawn to favor a Republican, but could now determine who holds the keys to the speaker's office next year.

"Leaders from across Congress and across the country are all watching what happens right here in this district," Johnson told supporters at a San Antonio VFW Post in August. "This district is the whole enchilada."

Redistricting scrambled San Antonio voters. Here's how to find your sample ballot.

Early voting runs through Oct. 30 for a Nov. 3 election with an unusual number of high-profile races on the ballot in Texas.

Congressional races could make or break Republicans' razor-thin U.S. House majority, the governor's race is polling closer than many expected, and the U.S. Senate contest between Talarico and Paxton keeps crushing spending records.

If Democrats are ever going to crack a statewide race in Texas, political strategists say, this area's voters are a high priority.

Though Bexar County has long been a blue stronghold, Democrats say its voters don't turn out in as high of volume as the state's other urban centers.

Former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg participates in a Bexar County Judge debate at Texas Public Radio’s Irma & Emilio Nicolas Media Center, Oct. 15, 2026. (Alejandra Sol Casas / Texas Public Radio)

Last cycle that worsened, when roughly 750,000 reliable Texas Democratic voters either flipped for Trump two years ago or didn't vote at all, according to San Antonio political strategist Kelton Morgan.

Many of whom were Hispanic voters in and around the San Antonio-area.

Against that backdrop, former San Antonio mayor and Democratic nominee for county judge Ron Nirenberg told supporters this morning that how the county votes this year will speak volumes about the direction the state is headed.

"This community represents Texas. We are the vanguard ... Bexar County is the future," Nirenberg said near the Las Palmas Library where early voting was just kicking off.

"This election in Texas depends on Bexar County turning out."