Trump returns to Texas for high-stakes push to keep state in Republican hands

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will be joined by one of his potential successors on Tuesday as he tries to keep Texas, which hasn't elected a Democrat to statewide office in 32 years, in the Republican column in next week's midterm elections. The president will appear in Corpus Christi and Lubbock in his effort to boost Republican Ken Paxton's competitive U.S. Senate campaign against Democrat James Talarico. Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to help Trump show off a newly arrived oil tanker filled with Venezuelan crude to be processed in Texas refineries, according to a congressional aide and two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Rubio’s schedule ahead of a public announcement. The events mark Trump's third swing through Texas since holding a first-of-its-kind midterm convention in Dallas in September, a sign of the significance he's putting on a state that has spent decades as a Republican stronghold. However, Talarico has made the race competitive, capitalizing on a difficult political environment for Republicans and Paxton's history of ethic