Politics

Ted Cruz: Texas Could Turn Blue in November

Shawn A. Akers 7:22PM March 7, 2018

The 2018 primary elections kicked off in Texas with Democrats and women scoring big.

Although the turnout wasn’t as strong as hoped, in the end, Texas Democrats surpassed one million voters for the first time since 2002.

“We are seeing some extraordinary turnout in the Democratic primary in Texas that has us feeling very hopeful about what the general election might look like,” Wendy Davis, the 2014 Democratic nominee for governor, told MSNBC.

Meanwhile, more than half of the nearly 50 women running for Congress either won their primaries or advanced to run-offs.

Some Democrats—like Veronica Escobar, who won the Democratic nomination in the race for the 16th Congressional District—are crediting the Trump administration for their victories.

“I’ve spoken to innumerable senior citizens, retirees, parents of disabled children, people who understand what this administration means to their families. And they’re afraid,” she said.

Democrats are also set to hold run-offs for three Republican-controlled House seats in Texas that voted for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016.

“I think that a Congress that is only 20 percent women is not where we need to be,” said Gina Ortiz-Jones, who advanced to a May runoff in her bid to challenge two-term Republican incumbent Will Hurd in Texas’ 23rd District. “This is not a spectator sport. We’ve got to participate—all of us—and that’s what’s important.”

Meanwhile, some Republicans—like Sen. Ted Cruz, who easily won his party’s nomination—are concerned Tuesday’s primary offers a potential glimpse of what’s to come in the first midterms under President Donald Trump.

“If conservatives are complacent—we know that the Left is going to show up,” Cruz warned on the “Hugh Hewitt” radio show Tuesday. “The extreme Left, they’re angry. They’re filled with rage; they hate the president.”

“And mark my words, we are going to see historic turnout from the extreme Left in November, which means if conservatives stay home, we have the potential, we could lose both houses of Congress,” he continued.

“We could end up with a Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi and a Majority Leader Chuck Schumer,” Cruz said. “In Texas, if conservatives stay home, if we rest on our laurels, we could see Texas turn blue. We could see every statewide official in the state turning Democrat.”

Still, Cruz remains optimistic, dismissing predictions of a “blue wave” this fall.

“Left-wing rage may raise a bunch of money from people online, but I don’t believe it reflects the views of a majority of Texans,” he told reporters.