Ted Cruz Skips Senate Duties to Stump in San Angelo as Senate Campaign Turns Nasty

SAN ANGELO, TX -- U.S. Senator Ted Cruz will make his first campaign stop in San Angelo Thursday evening as he travels across West Texas.  Cruz was in San Angelo earlier this month to visit with veterans about their concerns.

The Cruz campaign released a new campaign video on Tuesday as well.  According to the campaign website, a year from when parts of the Texas Gulf Coast were trying to pick up the pieces and others were still under water, the Ted Cruz for Senate campaign released a new digital ad — “Completely Ridiculous”— for the 2018 election.

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The ad contrasts Senator Cruz’s leadership to Congressman Beto O’Rourke’s “completely ridiculous” opposition to giving Harvey victims $5 billion in tax relief.

O’Rourke was one of only four Texas Democrats to vote against the tax relief bill introduced by Senators Cruz, Cornyn and Rubio that provided hurricane victims over $5 billion in tax relief. O’Rourke’s “no” vote was criticized by Houston media as being “completely ridiculous”.

When Hurricane Harvey came ashore last year, Senator Cruz was on the scene to be with storm victims. After the waters receded, Senator Cruz got to work helping his neighbors recover and rebuild.

The ad says “When the hurricane hit, you stood up for Texas.  And Ted Cruz stood up for you,” alluding to O’Rourke’s comment about NFL players kneeling during the national anthem.  “...I can think of nothing more American…” said O’Rourke.

Senator Cruz dedicated his staff resources in-state and in Washington D.C. to helping Gulf Coast-area hurricane victims recover quickly. In three successive emergency funding bills enacted after Hurricane Harvey hit, Senator Cruz led the effort to double the initial amount of disaster recovery funding from $7.4 billion to $15.25 billion, deliver an additional $36 billion in aid recovery, and secure $89.3 billion in a third relief package. He also led the successful enactment of the Cruz-Cornyn-Rubio emergency tax relief bill, which provided hurricane victims with over $5 billion in tax relief.

The campaign says from Victoria, Rockport, Port Aransas, Refugio, Houston, Beaumont to Port Arthur and everywhere in between, Senator Cruz stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his fellow Texans when they needed him the most. He continues to regularly visit the hardest-hit areas to monitor the rebuilding and get updates on how he can continue helping families and communities recover.

The Drudge Report provided a link to a Dallas Morning News story about the Texas GOP going negative in the Texas senate race this morning. “Texas Senate Race Turns Nasty,” Drudge screamed.

The Dallas Morning News piece detailed two tweets the Texas GOP made two days ago. One highlights Beto O’Rourke’s DWI arrest in 1998 when O’Rourke was in his 20s. According to reports, O’Rourke received deferred adjudication for the offense and was never convicted.

O’Rourke was also arrested in 1995 for attempted burglary. He tripped an alarm at the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso. The case was later dropped by the prosecutors.

The other Texas GOP tweet showed O’Rourke wearing a dress when he was a member of a punk rock band. In the photo above, O’Rourke is the male on the left with facial hair.

The Texas GOP quipped, “Maybe Beto can’t debate Ted Cruz because he already had plans…” (source)

Cruz will be absent from the U.S. Senate while the Senate is in session to visit San Angelo. Texas senior Senator John Cornyn, also a Republican, told the Dallas Morning News that Cruz’s votes are not critical for getting work done this week. “He noted that the GOP and Democratic leaders had cut a deal to get about 15 noncontroversial judges and other nominees confirmed this week,” according to the News.

As we reported Wednesday, Tom Green County Republican Party Chairman Jeff Betty was pleased about the announcement that Cruz was coming back to San Angelo.

“As you all know I have been trying to get a visit from Senator Cruz for quite some time. Now that he is coming for a campaign visit it is incredibly important that we show up in numbers to welcome him and show this area that the Democrats are delusional in their hope that their candidate [Beto O’Rourke] will convince Texans to sign up for socialism,” he stated in an email.

Ted Cruz will be at Miss Hattie’s Restaurant, 26 E. Concho St. downtown from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday.  Tickets are required to get into the event.