A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
With less than two weeks left until Election Day, both presidential candidates are racing around the seven swing states. Today, they're both in Texas, one of the reddest states in the country. Trump has a big interview lined up, and Vice President Harris is trying to put abortion rights back in the spotlight. NPR's Deepa Shivaram is in Houston with the vice president. So, Deepa, why the Lone Star State?
DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Well, honestly, polls show that there's a huge gender divide in this campaign. Women favor Harris and men favoring Trump. And today's Texas stop kind of highlights that. Trump is taping the "Joe Rogan" podcast in Austin, which is a podcast that's very popular with young men. And it's a demographic he's trying to get out the vote with. Meanwhile, Harris is in Houston. She's taping a podcast with Brene Brown. It's popular among women.
And this is Beyonce's hometown, and Beyonce is going to perform at the rally tonight for Harris. So a lot of things going on, but I will say it's more than Beyonce in this final stretch of the campaign. Harris is trying to bring her message on reproductive rights back into the forefront. And Texas has had some of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. There are several women from Texas who during this campaign have shared their stories in speeches and ads of being denied an abortion when they needed them, which has put their lives at risk.
MARTÍNEZ: And how effective have those ads been?
SHIVARAM: You know, there is a new ad out this week, and I will say it's pretty memorable. It features a woman in Texas who was denied care when she had a miscarriage. And it shows a scar that she had from the emergency surgery that goes all the way down her entire chest, down to her stomach. And because of what happened, she may never be able to have children. It's the kind of image that - it sticks in your head, you know, to show the impact of the Supreme Court decision. And the audio in the background of the ad is Trump saying he's going to be a protector of women. So this is definitely a topic that Democrats want to reignite attention on and make sure it's top of mind for voters.
MARTÍNEZ: Right. And reproductive rights have really been a big focus in the Senate race that's going on in Texas right now. That's Democratic Congressman Colin Allred challenging incumbent Senator Ted Cruz. Do Democrats maybe see this as a Senate see that they can flip?
SHIVARAM: You know, as tight as this presidential race is, the race over who will control Congress is also really tight. And Texas has long been a red state. It's been 30 years since there was last a Democratic senator. I spoke with Brandon Rottinghaus. He's a professor of politics at the University of Houston. And he says the changing demographics in Texas in the last several years could maybe change things this time around.
BRANDON ROTTINGHAUS: The population has been surging with people moving here, and it's made the state much younger and much more racially and ethnically diverse. So it's really changing the dynamic of what Texas is politically.
SHIVARAM: And, you know, Allred has made reproductive rights a major focus in his campaign. And it's become a liability for Cruz in this race, as Allred has hammered him on this issue. So this visit from Harris is pretty significant. She's a candidate who's short on time here, and for her to fly out to Houston and campaign with Allred shows that Democrats think they have a decent shot to flip this race.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So where are Trump and Harris heading to next?
SHIVARAM: So last night, I was with her as she rallied with Barack Obama in Atlanta. It was her biggest rally yet. There were about 20,000 people there. Tomorrow, she heads to Kalamazoo, Michigan, for a rally with Michelle Obama. Trump is headed to Michigan next as well. He stops in Traverse City and then the Detroit suburbs. And both candidates will be in Pennsylvania this weekend, too, going after those undecided voters and trying to drum up support from their bases.
MARTÍNEZ: Feels like the final turn of a very long race, right? NPR's Deepa Shivaram, thanks a lot.
SHIVARAM: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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