Texas Democrats are kicking off a multimillion-dollar campaign to derail Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s Senate re-election bid despite not yet having a Democratic challenger.
“In 2020, we must seize the opportunity to flip Texas,” read a memo from the state party, The Texas Tribune reported Thursday. “We cannot wait for the primary dust to settle before we launch our attacks on John Cornyn.”
The anti-Cornyn campaign, which will be “funded, in part, by record-breaking fundraising, including the most successful February totals in Texas Democratic Party history,” did not reveal specific dollar amounts. However, the effort will focus on digital, communications, messaging and polling, research, and data and targeting.
The memo pointed to a February Quinnipiac poll that showed Cornyn in a dead heat against former Democratic Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke. O’Rourke, however, announced in March that he would officially be running for president, thereby disqualifying himself from a second Senate run.
O’Rourke, who continuously trailed Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz throughout the duration of his first campaign, failed to attain the seat as junior U.S. senator to the state of Texas. The 2018 race, which was closer than expected, has reportedly emboldened the Texas Democratic Party to launch a “Cornyn War Room” in an attempt to “define Cornyn before he defines himself.”
“Hope they spend every last penny they get from their out of state puppet masters,” Cornyn tweeted Thursday in response to the news of the Texas Democrats’ campaign.
Hope they spend every last penny they get from their out of state puppet masters https://t.co/gWhd8FFxUa
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) April 4, 2019
John Jackson, Cornyn’s campaign manager, also issued a statement on the news.
“Only the Democrat party would praise themselves for doing what should be their job,” said Jackson. “Texans won’t be fooled by their millions from California and New York.”
Send tips to [email protected]Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2019 Daily Caller News Foundation
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].