With the election in only a few days, all eyes are on the swing states that will ultimately decide this election. To the surprise of many, Texas is now emerging as one of these battleground states. Recent polls show Biden is within a few points of Trump, a gap that Democrats are optimistic can be closed. In a Washington Post op-ed, former 2020 primary candidate Beto O’Rourke wrote, “Joe Biden can end the election on election night. All it takes is an investment in Texas.”

With 38 electoral college votes, Texas would be a big prize for the Democrats. A Biden win in Texas would almost guarantee the former Vice President the White House. If Trump was to lose Texas, he would have to win in many of the Midwestern swing states that experts believe are currently leaning Democratic, such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.

Kamala Harris visited three Texas cities in recent days, including McAllen. The town of more than 140,000 people is located in the Rio Grande Valley, an area with a high population of Latino voters, a group believed to collectively lean Democratic. At the event in McAllen, Harris spoke about issues that impact the Latino community, such as COVID-19, which disproportionately affects Latinos.

Despite recent polls, the Trump campaign denies Texas is a swing state in this election. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, who works for the Trump campaign, said Trump is “going to be in battleground states. Texas is not a battleground state, it’s that simple.” Perry also called the Democrats’ hopes for a win in Texas a “pipe dream.”

The last Democrat to win Texas in a presidential election was Jimmy Carter in 1976. More than 40 years later, the former president believes Joe Biden could flip the state. In an email message written for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Carter said, “We have a chance to turn Texas blue. In just four days, we have a chance to do something that hasn’t been done since I won the presidency.”