APTOPIX Trump

President Donald Trump has taken his midterm campaign blitz to Texas, where Senate candidate Ken Paxton is locked in a tight race against Democrat James Talarico. Republican strategists say Trump's Iran war is severely damaging party efforts to retain control of Congress as gasoline price hikes drive up costs across the economy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Trump to show off a newly arrived oil tanker filled with Venezuelan crude to be processed in Texas refineries. Meanwhile, a federal judge in Los Angeles heard arguments over whether the Department of Justice can bar California from counting the ballots of some 20,000 people until it can confirm they are U.S. citizens.