McKinney, Texas, is ground zero for the migration of voters from California to Texas over the past several years. On Election Day, it is these newcomers who may well tip the balance not just in the Senate and governor's races.

They may also decide whether the once ruby red Lone Star State will continue to grow bluer.

I met Oren at The Celt on the picture-postcard town square, where we played a friendly game of pool. He moved from California about a year ago "because it’s a lot cheaper to live" but is voting for Democrats because he believes that Texas needs "more social services and public transit" and more support for transgender kids.

When I gently tried to press Oren on the apparent illogic of moving away from a high-tax, big-government blue state for reasons of cost only to vote to make his new home a high-tax, big-government state, he was unmoved, almost arguing that real California progressivism has never been tried.

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It turns out that Oren was not as much of an outlier as I had expected because, not long after, I met Daniel, who works at a local restaurant and moved to McKinney a few years ago with his best friend and girlfriend to start a business. He has also proudly brought his politics with him.

"It’s in the Constitution," Daniel told Fox News Digital. "We can go anywhere we want. It's meant to be that way."

When I asked him if he could understand why so many people born and raised in Texas are worried about transplants changing its politics, he shrugged and said, "Things change."

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In the space of about five hours, I met two more refugees from California prepared to keep voting for Democrats. Like Oren and Daniel, they really did not see any irony in the fact that they may be recreating in Texas exactly the conditions they escaped in California.

The natives, however, do see the problem with the Californication of Texas. Terry, a longtime local in her 60s, told me, "I love to see the growth, and there’s a lot of it, but if they bring Democratic politics with them, then we stand to lose the whole thing bringing people here."

Clint, who was in town from his home just on the other side of the Oklahoma border, is worried not just about Texas turning blue through domestic migration, but even about the Sooner State eventually turning blue.

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"I cannot comprehend why someone would move from a state because there’s high taxes and then come down here and vote for high taxes. I just can’t comprehend it," Clint told Fox News Digital. "And I’ve asked them to explain it to me, but they just cuss me out."

Thankfully, nobody cussed out this columnist for asking, but Clint is correct that the liberal transplants see no problem with transforming the red states they arrive in into blue states, and it's not just Texas.

Arizona and even Montana have seen influxes of liberal California voters. West Virginians have similar fears regarding their neighbors to the south in Northern Virginia, who are also attracted by the low taxes and cost of living.

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In Texas, there is a kind of double-pincer political invasion because, along with the Cali converts, unchecked immigration — illegal and otherwise — over decades has also pushed the needle left in the state. This is, in a nutshell, the new Democratic Party coalition: wealthy, college-educated Whites and immigrants.

The bottom line for Republicans — not just in Texas but in many red states — is that Americans are moving at stunning rates to cheaper states, which almost always means Republican states. The good news is that red states stand to gain in the Electoral College and in Congress after the next census, but that won’t matter if Democrats take them over.

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Between now and then, and especially on Tuesday, "Don’t you turn my red state blue" has to be the mantra of the GOP. If Texas falls this time, then anywhere can, and that is exactly what the Democrats moving to red states are hoping for and creating.

DALLAS — Democrats see a rare opening in Texas, and James Talarico is giving them their clearest shot in years at turning the state blue. If he pulls off the upset, the former teacher and Presbyterian seminarian could knock the first brick loose in Texas’ red wall.

The polling and fundraising figures help explain why Democrats see that possibility.

To put it in perspective, Talarico’s polling leads are wider than those recorded against Ted Cruz in 2018, when Beto O’Rourke came closer than any Democrat in decades to winning a Texas Senate race. And the enthusiasm on the ground from those who spoke with Fox News Digital backs up the numbers.

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What's more, Talarico’s campaign raised $64 million from July through September, more than three times Trump-backed candidate Ken Paxton’s $18 million haul over the same period. Since launching his campaign, Talarico has raised more than $146 million.

But Paxton, currently the state's attorney general, has enjoyed Republican outside groups pouring more than $200 million into Texas to support him, nearly all of it bankrolled by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man. Additionally, MAGA Inc., President Donald Trump’s principal super PAC, has spent another $33.7 million on ads backing Paxton, according to AdImpact.

At his Dallas rally on Thursday, Talarico underscored that divide by casting the race as a David and Goliath fight, telling supporters they were his weapon against powerful interests.

"David wasn’t as big or as strong as Goliath. He didn’t have as many weapons, but he had hope. He had faith, and he had a slingshot," he said. "Dallas, you are my slingshot. The people of Texas are my slingshot."

Talarico's momentum has also shown up on the campaign trail.

'That’s a lot of Talafreakos in one room'

Earlier this week, Talarico hopscotched across Texas, stopping in El Paso before holding events in Midland and Amarillo and drawing a larger-than-expected crowd in deep-red Lubbock on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Trump campaigned with Paxton about four miles away that same night, shifting his rally time so it overlapped with Talarico’s event.

The dueling rallies put the race’s divide on display. Talarico’s campaign said more than 4,000 people signed up for his Lubbock rally, prompting a move to a larger venue.

"I know that we’re not the only show in town tonight, and I appreciate all 4,000 of you that showed up here this evening," Talarico said at the Fiesta Center in Lubbock on Oct. 27. "That’s a lot of Talafreakos in one room."

The Democratic candidate and his supporters have embraced the moniker "Talafreako," a nickname first given to him as a derogatory dig by Republicans and President Trump.

Voters at Talarico’s rallies in Lubbock told Fox News Digital that Trump’s repeated Texas visits signaled Republican anxiety, while Paxton backers remained confident the state would stay red after a costly and contentious primary that saw Republicans divided over Paxton and sitting Sen. John Cornyn, who was ultimately ousted in the May runoff.

"Trump’s in Lubbock? Trump’s in Lubbock, Texas? He’s scared, he is scared," one supporter told Fox News Digital.

Natalie, from Friona, called Trump’s same-day rally a sign Republicans were "nervous."

"I think it’s performative, like to come the exact same day as he is here," she said.

Jenny, from Brownsville, told Fox News Digital outside Trump and Paxton's rally that the race was "not close" and she predicted that "Paxton will wipe the floor" with Talarico.

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Beyond the rally crowds, some Talarico supporters in Dallas and Lubbock said Paxton’s past legal controversies and impeachment by the Texas House shaped their views of the Republican nominee.

"We’re here in support of honesty, decency and integrity," Lori, a Dallas voter who has voted Republican in the past, told Fox News Digital. "That’s what we like to see in a candidate, and we think Talarico is all that in one."

George, a lifelong Texan at the Dallas rally, said years of watching Texas politics had become "heartbreaking" and called Talarico "a breath of fresh air."

In Lubbock, Georgia cited several of Talarico’s policies and called him "authentic." She also said his lack of an indictment was a plus, contrasting him with Paxton.

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Elias, a nurse from Lubbock, described Paxton as a weak leader.

"He had a chance to kind of redeem himself despite his ugly past, but he’s not a man, he can’t stand up for himself. He needs daddy Trump to come and support him."

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With Election Day on Nov. 3, the question is whether Talarico can turn rally crowds and a polling lead into a historic win. A victory would crack the GOP’s decades-long grip on Texas. A loss would leave Democrats still searching for a path to turn the state blue.