President Trump was back in Texas Tuesday, rallying in Corpus Christi and Lubbock for the third time in a month, all in support of Republican Ken Paxton’s Senate bid against Democrat James Talarico. Trump called Talarico “lunatic left” and celebrated what he called the greatest oil victory in history. Talarico keeps hammering a simple message: the system is broken and corrupt, and Texans deserve better.

The money in this race is staggering. Elon Musk has contributed at least $158 million to defeat Talarico, and total ad spending has topped $563 million, making this one of the most expensive Senate contests in the country. Beyond the Senate seat, Democrat Gina Hinojosa is running hard against Gov. Greg Abbott, and a judge ruled she can review more than 1,000 unredacted pages of Musk-Abbott communications by Thursday.

For Waxahachie, this isn’t distant politics. The same debates over growth, spending, and who’s really listening play out at our county fair, in our school board meetings, and along the square. Election season here has a way of connecting the biggest national fights to the most local ones. So what’s your read: does all this campaign spending actually influence the way you vote? Let us know.