‘That’s Stunning!’ Megyn Kelly Shocked as Mark Halperin Tells Her James Talarico on Track to Win

Megyn Kelly was left stunned as Mark Halperin broke down why he believes Democratic candidate James Talarico has a real chance at defeating Republican Ken Paxton in their Texas Senate race.

Halperin joined Kelly on The Megyn Kelly Show this week and the two dove into the Texas Senate race, where Paxton has the backing of President Donald Trump and the advantage of a heavily-red state, but, as Kelly noted, polling has Talarico ahead, shocking some political pundits.

Halperin himself admitted he was surprised by where Texas has ended up.

“I’m second to no political analyst for the last 20 years in laughing at Democrats wasting money trying to win races in Texas. I have been consistent in looking at the demographics and saying, maybe someday, but not now. Because of the climate, because of how unpopular President Trump is, and because of Ken Paxton’s unpopularity, if the election were held today, I believe Talarico would win,” he said.

The veteran journalist said he believes there is time for Republicans to turn the race around and argued in favor of setting a clear contrast between Talarico and Paxton:

They will say, do you want common sense or do you want a communist? Do you want common sense, or do want kooky? And if they can do that and turn things around, they’ll win, but they must execute. In other words, on the current trajectory, as long as it’s been since the Democrat has won a statewide race in Texas, as much as Talarico has said many things that would in a normal cycle disqualify him for Texas voters, he will win unless the Republicans can change the current trajectory of the race. And that’s true in a lot of other races right now too.

“That’s stunning,” Kelly said in reaction.

“It is,” Halperin said as Kelly repeated her surprise.

“You can go check my record,” Halperin said. “I have — there’s not been a single cycle, presidential or midterm, where I have given Democrats a chance to win a statewide race in Texas. Not a chance, wasn’t even open to it. But it’s happening now unless the Republicans fix it.”

Watch above via The Megyn Kelly Show.

Jason Cohen contributed to this report.

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