Trump came to rally support for Paxton in the Senate race against Democratic Texas Senator James Talarico. Gerald Ford was the first active president to visit, in 1976 during his campaign. George H.W. Bush spoke at Texas Tech's commencement in 1999, after his presidency, and made an earlier stop in 1986 for a speech marking the Texas sesquicentennial.
Luke Matsik of Townsquare Media Lubbock has lived here nearly a decade. He points to Buddy Holly Hall, which hosts globally recognized talent each week, and to the current Speaker of the House, who he says is from Lubbock.
For people here, his pitch is simple. Lubbock ranks in the top 10 largest Texas cities by population, it has Texas Tech University, and it's the hometown of Buddy Holly. Elvis, Dolly Parton, Liberace and George Strait have all performed here. Matsik says he doesn't take these visits for granted. This one lands squarely in a Senate race.
His math is blunt: a top 10 Texas city gets a presidential visit about once every quarter century.