KSEV Mornings · November 4, 2026 · Hour 2
Craig digs deeper into the exit polls on income, women and age, Victor Davis Hanson on the donors who wouldn’t back Ken Paxton, why Republicans shouldn’t turn on Trump, the heirs apparent on both sides, and callers on Marco Rubio, victimhood and school vouchers.
Victor Davis Hanson said wealthy donors read him the riot act over Ken Paxton, and Craig Coglianese spent the second hour digging into why Paxton lost to James Talarico by more than 10 points and what Republicans have to do to win Texas back. Wayne Dolcefino was on special assignment at the airport.
Income, women and the message
Craig said the simplified version is that demographics hurt the Republican Party in Texas, but the exit polls show more. Voters making under $50,000 a year were 31% of the vote and went for Talarico about 60-40. “If you’re making 50 grand or less and you’re trying to pay for your gas all the time, you actually do struggle to pay for it,” he said. Voters making $200,000 or more were only 12% of the electorate and went for Talarico just barely.
Women were about 55% of the vote. Craig said the accusations about Paxton’s personal life may have made it harder for women to vote for him, and that tougher, meaner messages tend to fall flatter with women than with men, echoing what Charlie Kirk used to say: men and women are different. The correct message, delivered the correct way, he said, helps voters understand complicated issues like the war in Iran, ICE and the drop in crime. Craig said the Republican Party should have sold this administration’s successes better, and that the saving grace is that Democrats, once in power, will “screw up profoundly,” just as Biden did. He also clarified his viral TikTok: he said Talarico couldn’t win if Texas voted its values, and “I don’t think Texas voted its values in this election.”
Victor Davis Hanson and the donors
Craig paraphrased Victor Davis Hanson’s television interview: Hanson said he was read the riot act by wealthy donors over Paxton, with donors who usually fund Republicans saying they weren’t going to vote for him and were fine letting Talarico win. Craig said the late money probably came too late, and that many Paxton supporters would have done the same thing to John Cornyn that Cornyn voters did to Paxton: “A lot of the Paxton supporters are just anybody but Cornyn.” He added, “I like Wesley Hunt,” and said Hunt would have done better without the baggage of either candidate.
By age, Craig said 18- to 29-year-olds were 13% of the vote and went 79% for Talarico, and 30- to 44-year-olds were 22% and went 64% for Talarico. Voters 45 to 64 went for Paxton by only about two points, and voters 65 and over went 56% to 43% for Paxton, the number that surprised him most. Young voters tend to vote on money, he said, and if more older voters had shown up, the result would have been different.
Don’t turn on Trump. Talk about what’s going well
Caller Mike said diesel and gas prices hurt in farm states and with lower-income voters, and asked how Republicans rebuild for when President Trump can’t run again. Craig said turning hard against Trump would lose a lot of the base. Instead, Republicans should change the conversation to what’s going well: the underlying economic numbers, which E.J. Antoni of the Heritage Foundation said on Friday’s show are quite good, manufacturing jobs coming back, and gas prices that should come down if the war in Iran ends. He said the border was slammed shut and crime went down, but Republicans didn’t sell that well enough. “When you’re in power, you need to shift your message from having a chip on your shoulder to being someone who knows what you’re doing well,” Craig said.
Mike said Marco Rubio is probably his favorite choice for 2028 and wants Trump to “veto like crazy” for the next two years. Craig said the problem isn’t Trump: “I think it’s on the people like JD Vance, who I actually also do like, who walk around and try to sound like Trump.” He named Vivek Ramaswamy as another example.
The heirs apparent
Craig said the heirs apparent on the left have become clearer and the ones on the right more confusing. JD Vance and Vivek Ramaswamy will have a popularity problem, he said, while Marco Rubio less so, and Rubio would bring in more of the Latino vote. On the left, Jon Ossoff of Georgia is an even bigger name now, and Talarico will be a name too. Craig called Ossoff the left’s version of Brandon Gill, and said it’s a good sign that Gill survived his race here in Texas, since he is a rising star in the party. Craig still believes that, by and large, Texas will restore itself.
Callers on victimhood, values and vouchers
Carlos in Spring said President Trump’s timing on the war hurt, that Democrats keep turning voters into victims, and that it has to be Rubio for 2028. Craig agreed that Republicans have to break the cycle of voters saying Democrats failed them and then falling for the next promise. When another caller said Texans did vote their values of dignity and honesty, Craig pushed back that both sides carry plenty of ethical baggage, and that the left are just “better liars.”
Paul, a retired educator with 37 years in education, said Texans who support public schools were a big group, and predicted the Texas House will flip because of it. Craig said the point of a voucher is to let parents pick a school they think will do better by their child, asked whether Paul’s own school did well on state testing, and invited him to call back for a longer conversation.
Hear Craig and Wayne live weekdays from 7–9 AM Central on AM 700 KSEV, The Voice of Texas. Visit the KSEV Mornings show page for live-listening controls and more episodes. Listen live weekdays 7-9 AM CT on the KSEV app.
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