Until recently, most of the outside spending for the May 22 GOP primary runoff in Texas' 2nd Congressional District benefited retired Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw over state Rep. Kevin Roberts. However, the Houston Chronicle writes that a group called Conservative Results Matter has spent at least $590,000 against Crenshaw in this suburban Houston seat.
CRM's TV spot features snippets from a 2015 Facebook post Crenshaw wrote denouncing Trump. The narrator reads out the words "insane. Hateful. Idiot," explaining that those were words that "so-called Republican Dan Crenshaw used to describe President Trump."
The ad then declares that Crenshaw actually supports "Bernie and Obama's radical bureaucratic takeover of healthcare and drug costs," and "wants amnesty for illegal immigrants. Yet Crenshaw called Trump an idiot." The commercial features plenty of pictures of Crenshaw, but it only shows him from the left side. Crenshaw lost his right eye in Afghanistan and wears an eye patch, something that CRM doesn't exactly want to remind the viewer about. However, CRM's ads could invite a backlash that only boosts Crenshaw.
Roberts, who has the support of the NRA and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett (a position akin to county executive), took first place in the March primary with 33 percent of the vote, while Crenshaw upset wealthy GOP donor Kathaleen Wall 27.4-27.1 to win second place. The runoff started amicably, with the two opponents initially making plans to visit a gun range together, but as the above ad shows, things have become a lot nastier recently. But it's not just outside groups that are throwing mud. Crenshaw himself has accused Roberts of disrespecting both his military experience and all veterans, while Roberts said that an old Crenshaw Facebook post demeaned Christianity.
The contest has also become expensive. While Roberts outspent Crenshaw $191,000 to $170,000 from April 1 to May 2 (which the FEC defines as the pre-primary period), outside spending has very much favored Crenshaw so far.
A group called American Patriots PAC has spent $233,000 so far, and they've aired ads praising Crenshaw and portraying Roberts as a typical politician trying to smear his heroic opponent. The With Honor Fund, a super PAC that seeks to elect veterans from both parties, has also spent $550,000 promoting Crenshaw. The $590,000 buy from Conservative Results Matter was the first major outside buy for Roberts' side.
This seat went from 63-36 Romney to 52-43 Trump. While it's going to be tough to flip it, Democratic nominee Todd Litton ended March with a credible $242,000 in the bank, and he could benefit if the GOP runoff ends with some lingering hurt feelings.
