Analysis: Texas candidates run for the border
Texas candidates are talking all kinds of things right now, but one set of issues floats to the top, as it has in state elections for decades: border security and immigration. Full Story
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![A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle along the border fence between El Paso and Juarez on Feb. 10, 2019, in El Paso.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Ted Cruz called the Jan. 6 riot a “terrorist attack.” Now he says he misspoke.
After conservative backlash, Cruz took to a FOX News show — whose host also lambasted him — to backpedal from comments he made during a congressional hearing. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz speaks as FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the January 6th insurrection, in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 2, 2021.]()
Credit: Mandel Ngan/Pool via REUTERS -
Ted Cruz and 16 other Texans refused to certify the 2020 election. None would say whether they see it as legitimate today.
Cruz was objecting to certifying Arizona’s election results when the Capitol was overrun. His speech that day and his misleading comments that cast doubts on the election led to calls for his resignation. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, talks with House members during a joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 Electoral College results on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.]()
Credit: Erin Schaff/Pool via REUTERS -
Ted Cruz says Joe Biden could be impeached if Republicans take U.S. House
The Republican senator from Texas said Democrats weaponized impeachment with former President Donald Trump, adding, “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” Full Story
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Ted Cruz has never recouped more than $500,000 he loaned his first campaign. He’s working to overturn the law that’s blocked him.
The Supreme Court next month will hear arguments in his challenge to the law that prevents the repayment, prompting fears among watchdog groups that another rollback of campaign finance regulations might be looming. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, addresses a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 6, 2021.]()
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Beto O’Rourke enters 2022 a weaker candidate with a harder race
O’Rourke joins the 2022 gubernatorial race as Texas’ best-known Democrat, but he carries considerably more baggage after a series of political failures, including his bids for U.S. Senate and president. This time, instead of riding a blue wave nationally, he’ll be fighting a red one. Full Story
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![Beto O'Rourke holds his first official 2020 presidential campaign rally in El Paso on March 30, 2019.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Beto O’Rourke says he’s running for Texas governor
O’Rourke’s decision to challenge Gov. Greg Abbott ends months of speculation and gives Democrats a formidable campaigner at the top of the ticket — someone who transformed Texas politics with his blockbuster campaign against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. Full Story
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![Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, speaks at “Texans Rally for Our Voting Rights” at the Texas Capitol in Austin on May 8, 2021.]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans want to make the state the center of the cryptocurrency universe
Texas Republicans have largely welcomed the blockchain technology industry with open arms. But skeptics are concerned about cryptocurrency mining’s impact on the environment and energy grid. Full Story
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![Computers mine for Bitcoin at Whinstone's Rockdale facility on Oct. 22, 2021. At capacity, the building can support 22,000 computers.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz delays dozens of President Joe Biden’s ambassador nominations, stoking feud over national security
Cruz has single-handedly delayed dozens of key State Department nominees in retaliation for a Biden decision to drop U.S. opposition to a Russian pipeline to Germany. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on "Big Data, Big Questions: Implications for Competition and Consumers" in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Ting Shen/Pool via REUTERS -
Ted Cruz and John Cornyn opposed a debt-limit increase that will stave off economic catastrophe, but backed previous borrowing hikes
The two Republican senators from Texas have routinely supported more government borrowing when Republicans held the White House. Full Story
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![U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018.]()
Credit: Matt McClain/Pool via REUTERS -
Ted Cruz's challenge to campaign finance reimbursement law reaches Supreme Court
Under a 2002 federal law, no more than $250,000 in contributions collected after an election may be used to repay a candidate’s loans to their campaign. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee confirmation hearing for U.S. Secretary of Transportation nominee Pete Buttigieg in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Stefani Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS -
Former state Rep. John Wray vying for old seat in Tuesday special election
Wray is among eight candidates, including five Republicans, on the ballot Tuesday to fill a vacancy in his old House District 10. Full Story
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![State Rep. John Wray, R-Waxahachie, chats with state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst R-Brenham, on the House floor on May 22, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Ted Cruz says he’d be a “disloyal jackass” if he didn't vote for Greg Abbott for governor in Republican primary
Abbott has drawn at least three primary opponents, including former Dallas state Sen. Don Huffines and former Texas GOP Chair Allen West. Full Story
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![Governor Greg Abbott shook hands with then-U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz as Cruz's wife Heidi Cruz looked on at a campaign rally in Dallas on Feb. 29, 2016.]()
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Ted Cruz shuts down federal voting bill before U.S. Senate leaves for recess, dashing Texas Democrats’ hopes
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz blocked a last Democratic attempt to pass federal voting rights legislation this summer. The Senate left town but is expected to pick up the issue again in the fall. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, participates in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs/Rules and Administration hearing to examine the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol on March 3, 2021.]()
Credit: Shawn Thew/Pool via REUTERS -
Texas voters split over Gov. Greg Abbott’s job performance, but he remains popular among Republicans, UT/TT Poll finds
The June 2021 poll shows that 44% of Texans approve of Abbott’s job as governor, while 44% disapprove. His approval rating from Texas voters is better than those of Joe Biden, U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton and House Speaker Dade Phelan. Full Story
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Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz join fellow Republicans to block Democrats' federal elections overhaul
While a majority of the Democratic-controlled Senate backed the bill, enough Republicans banded together to use the filibuster to block the bill from receiving an up-or-down vote. Full Story
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![Supporters hold Campaign signs at the ‘For the People’ voting rights rally on the south steps of the Texas Capitol on June 20, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, John Cornyn vote against commission to investigate January insurrection
U.S. Senate Republicans successfully blocked the establishment of a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Cruz and Cornyn voted against proceeding with debating the commission. Full Story
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![Pro-Trump rioters and police clashed at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021. The mob broke windows and breached the Capitol building in an attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. Police used buttons and tear gas grenades to eventually disperse the crowd. Rioters used metal bars and tear gas as well against the police.]()
Credit: Lev Radin/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
Joe Biden as popular as top Republican officeholders in Texas, UT/TT Poll finds
Texas voters have a strong preference for politicians from their own parties, but overall, the president is as popular here as the governor or either of the state's U.S. senators. Full Story
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![President-elect Joe Biden during a briefing where he delivered remarks on the United States' response to the COVID-19 outbreak, at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, on Dec. 29, 2020.]()
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Ted Cruz changes course and votes to support bill to address hate crimes against Asian Americans
The junior senator from Texas initially slammed the bill as “a messaging tactic” but supported it in the final vote because he said an amendment made it more palatable. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, during a hearing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., in December of 2020.]()
Credit: Jason Andrew/Pool via REUTERS -
State Rep. Jake Ellzey faces mounting opposition from his right in special election to replace Ron Wright in Congress
A national group is spending six figures to try to stop Ellzey ahead of the May 1 election, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz came out against him on Tuesday. Full Story
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![The U.S. Capitol Building, in Washington, D.C., in December.]()
Credit: Lenin Nolly/Sipa USA via Reuters
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