In San Angelo, Senator Ted Cruz Feels the Heat

SAN ANGELO, TX — A packed house awaited U.S. Senator Ted Cruz when we arrived about 25 minutes behind schedule at Miss Hattie’s Restaurant in downtown San Angelo for a campaign rally Thursday afternoon.

Cruz was met with a mostly friendly group of motivated citizens for his opponent Beto O’Rourke, the darling of the country’s progressive left, who held up their black and white ‘BETO’ signs. Interspersed with the Beto supporters from time-to-time were Cruz supporters holding Cruz signs. Not flinching, Cruz approached them and noted that because this is a free country, they can express their opinions. The exchange was friendly.

Once inside the restaurant, Mayor Brenda Gunter, also the proprietor of Miss Hattie’s, made a bold introduction, leaving no question what party and candidate she favors.

WATCH: Mayor Brenda Gunter introduces Senator Ted Cruz:
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Cruz admitted he was feeling the heat.

“We’re 68 days out and we’ve got a fight on our hands. The extreme Left, they’re angry. They’re energized. A few minutes ago, they were dancing outside the window. And they are unified by their hatred of the president,” Cruz said.

Democratic Party opponent Beto O’Rourke supporters could be seen holding up ‘BETO’ signs outside the front windows of the restaurant when Cruz began his speech.

“I’m going to tell you that this is dangerous. It’s resulting in a couple of things. One of the things is that tens of millions of dollars are flooding into the state of Texas from liberals all over the country. But another thing it’s going to result in is in November, we’re going to see record-shattering Democratic [Party] turnout,” Cruz warned.

WATCH: Senator Cruz arrives at the campaign rally and his opponent Beto O'Rourke's supporters confront him:
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“Now here’s the good news. This is Texas. And in Texas, there are a whole lot more conservatives than there are liberals,” Cruz said. The election on Nov. 6 boils down to one thing, Cruz said. “Turnout, turnout, turnout!”

Cruz’s stump speech incorporated two general ideas. The first was recounting the four big accomplishments of the Republican-led federal government. The second point of his speech was to warn Republicans and Cruz supporters that his campaign was running against a well-financed opponent with liberal support in dollars coming in from all corners of the country.

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Above: The standing room only crowd at Miss Hattie's Restaurant for the Senator Ted Cruz rally. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)

Cruz stressed accomplishments first.

Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, the Republicans have controlled both houses of the U.S. Congress and the executive branch. Because of this, Cruz said, “We are seeing incredible victories for the American people.”

Among the accomplishments of the Republicans in Washington D.C., Cruz said, were tax reform, regulatory reform, the start of repealing Obamacare, and the appointment of conservative federal judges.

“I knew If we could deliver on those four, it would have a long-lasting and powerful impact in the state of Texas,” Cruz said.

On tax cuts, Cruz said, in December, the Republicans passed the biggest tax cut of a generation. Two key ingredients of the tax overhaul that Cruz stressed were the doubling of the child tax credit and the doubling of the threshold of assets before the death tax kicks in. Cruz said the elimination of federal tax on inheritance for most estates helped farming and ranching families keep their land. Much of those assets are exempt from the death tax.

Federal taxpayers will not realize many of the benefits from the Republican tax reform until 2019, Cruz said. Next year, 90 percent of Americans will fill out their taxes on a postcard. The tax reform doubled personal exemptions, relieving most taxpayers from filing itemized deductions.

“Personally I think that ought to be 100 percent, and we ought to adopt a simple flat tax and abolish the IRS,” Cruz said. “But 90 percent is a very good start.”

On regulatory reform, Cruz said the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate has been able to confirm Trump cabinet appointees, many of whom have “peeled back” many of the federal regulations.

“These are regulations that under President Obama were hammering the state of Texas,” Cruz said. “They were hammering oil and gas, hammering farmers and ranchers, and Ag,”

“The result of tax reform and pulling back regulations is that the Texas economy is booming,” Cruz said to loud applause.

The third accomplishment, Cruz said, was the Republicans’ work towards repealing Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act. The complete repeal is not yet complete, Cruz said, but eliminating the individual mandate, or the part of the law that required everyone to purchase health insurance, was a major accomplishment towards complete repeal. Cruz claimed credit for leading the fight to accomplish that.

The fourth accomplishment of the Republican majority was the appointment of federal judges.

Cruz said, “The judges have been an unmitigated success of the Republican majority and the Trump presidency.”

Cruz named the newest appointee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Neil Gorsuch, a conservative jurist appointed this year. “And we are about to appoint Brett Kavanaugh,” Cruz promised. Kavanaugh is a conservative justice on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia who President Trump appointed to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.

But the Supreme Court appointees are just the tip of the iceberg, Cruz said. “We have confirmed conservative constitutionalists up and down the federal judiciary. Last year, the Senate confirmed more court of appeals judges than any time in history in the first year of a president’s term.”

Miss Hattie’s main dining room and portions of the rear were packed with supporters. In all, about 200 people attended the rally. Tom Green County Republican Chairman Jeff Betty was very pleased with the event.

Cruz made his campaign swing through Abilene and San Angelo yesterday. Campaign officials said he would hold a rally in McKinney over the Labor Day weekend with Texas Governor Greg Abbott.