The Texas Tribune shines a light on how this year’s U.S. Senate race between incumbent John Cornyn (R. TX) and veteran MJ Hegar (D. TX) is a profile race but it’s still a close one we need to keep our eye on:
More than any other race this fall in Texas, though, the U.S. Senate contest could be shaken up by the Friday death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which promptly sparked a battle to fill the vacancy, potentially before Election Day. Like many Democrats, Hegar argued that the next president should get to make the nomination, while Cornyn has not said exactly how he thinks the process should be handled. However, he was among the Senate Republicans in 2016 who refused to give a hearing to then-President Barack Obama’s high-court nominee, Merrick Garland, claiming it was too close to the election.
Cornyn said Monday the Senate should not rush the process this time around but that the Senate “will vote on that nominee sometime this year,” either before or after the election.
Hegar has called on the Senate to wait until after the election to act and said that by indicating they won’t, Cornyn and other Senate Republicans are “showing the American people once again that they lack the integrity to act in the best interests of our country.”
Give the whole piece a read. It’s true that the race between Cornyn and Hegar has tightened and Texas is certainly in play thanks. Especially since the state added over 1.5 million new registered voters. Even the GOP is starting to come to terms that Texas is competitive:
The Republican National Committee cut million-dollar checks to six state parties in August as it prepared for the fall campaign. But one payment stands out amid a torrent of money flowing to traditional battleground states: $1.3 million to once-brick red Texas.
On one level, it’s an astonishing development. But for those paying close attention this year, it’s hardly surprising at all.
Texas is more competitive this year than it’s been in a generation. And even though Democrats have been talking about this coming for, oh, perhaps 20 years, Texas has flown far under the radar in 2020 as states more essential to the battleground map (like Wisconsin) or more gettable for Joe Biden (like Arizona) suck up all the attention.
And the Texas GOP is even turning on itself:
Texas, which refused to open up absentee voting during the COVID-19 outbreak, is now facing a GOP lawsuit challenging its move to expand early in-person voting for the pandemic instead.
The Texas Republican Party, along with some GOP members of its legislature and other Republican officials, have asked the Texas Supreme Court to block the state from beginning early in-person voting a week sooner than usual.
The lawsuit bashes Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for signing an emergency COVID-19 measure that increased by a week the time offered for early in-person voting. It alleges that, by implementing the order, Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughes is violating the state’s election code.
We have a great shot at flipping Texas Blue and we have to keep up the momentum.
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