Leaked audio shows Texas Republicans turning on Trump ahead of the midterms, bad news for the party and a rare opening for Democrats in a state they almost never win.

• Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate candidate in Texas, was caught on tape saying Trump's midterm convention dropped his numbers and everyone else's.
• Trump claimed the convention pulled 107 million viewers, four times the NFL; the real figure looks closer to three million.
• Border voters who swung to Trump in 2024 now feel betrayed — deportations hit their own families, and construction firms can't find workers.
• The bigger anger is economic: high gas and diesel prices, slow construction, lost customers for small businesses.
• Talk of a permanent Republican majority built on Hispanic voters looks dead, echoing earlier failed predictions from both parties.

Outlook: Texas is still an uphill climb for Democrats, but a 30-point swing among border voters would put the Senate race genuinely in play.