Cruz Racks Up A Third Senate Endorsement for President
On the same day that he said he’d pick Carly Fiorina as his running mate should he win the GOP presidential nomination, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has won the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado.
On Wednesday afternoon, Cruz's campaign announced the endorsement, Cruz's third from one of his colleagues in the Senate after Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mike Lee of Utah.
"Ted Cruz has always been a fierce defender of the Constitution and a tireless advocate of conservative principles," read a statement from Gardner, who had endorsed former candidate Marco Rubio.
*****
Cruz's presidential campaign and its allies are wasting no time putting his running mate on the air.
On Thursday afternoon, the campaign and a pro-Cruz super PAC unveiled TV ads featuring Fiorina, who Cruz named a day earlier as his vice presidential candidate. The 30-second spots are set to run in Indiana, whose primary Tuesday is becoming make-or-break for Cruz.
In unveiling its ad, the pro-Cruz super PAC Trusted Leadership PAC said it was investing another $350,000 in the Hoosier State. The group had previously announced it would spend $1.6 million to support Cruz there.
Watch the campaign's ad:
Watch the super PAC's ad:
*****
Texas’ entire Republican congressional delegation — including Cruz — is supporting the state’s legal defense of its voter ID law.
“They support efforts to ensure the integrity of and public confidence in the electoral process through the use of evenhanded and non-burdensome voter identification measures,” said a brief submitted on their behalf Friday. “They strongly believe SB 14 is one such effort that serves an important function in preserving fair elections in the State of Texas.”
The case, now in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, centers on whether the Texas Legislature intentionally discriminated against Hispanic and African-American voters when it passed Senate Bill 14 in 2011, requiring most citizens to show one of a handful of forms of allowable photo identification before their election ballots can be counted.
The rules did not take effect until the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of the Voting Rights Act, ruling in Shelby County v. Holder that states with a history of racial discrimination no longer needed to seek federal approval when changing election laws.
In August of 2015, a 5th Circuit panel ruled that the law has a “discriminatory effect” that violates the Voting Rights Act but that it is not a “poll tax” barred under the U.S. Constitution, but the rules are still in effect for now.
The full appeals court will rehear arguments on May 24.
Cruz and company asks for the full court to reverse the decision that the panel largely upheld.
“Simply put, an application of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act that would invalidate such a commonsense measure cannot be correct,” the brief stated. “The en banc Court should rule that SB 14 does not have a discriminatory effect in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.”
*****
The Texas primary is over, but that doesn't mean Hillary Clinton is done with the state.
Clinton, the Democratic presidential frontrunner, is planning to return to the Lone Star State on May 20 for a series of fundraisers, according to invitations recently distributed by her campaign. As part of the swing, Clinton will visit Dallas, Houston and Austin.
In Texas' March 1 primary, Clinton defeated rival Bernie Sanders by 32 points, 65 percent to 33 percent.
*****
Texas GOP Vice Chair Amy Clark on Thursday unveiled a raft of endorsements in her bid for re-election.
According to her campaign, Clark has the support of almost three-quarters of the State Republican Executive Committee, the Texas Young Republican Federation and every member of the Texas Federation of Republican Women who can endorse in such a race. Clark has also been endorsed by two former state GOP chairmen, Steve Munisteri and Tom Pauken, as well as anti-abortion advocate Kyleen Wright, president of the Texans for Life Coalition, and Texas Alliance for Life PAC.
Clark was elected vice chair at the state GOP convention in 2014. At the convention next month, Texas GOP Chairman Tom Mechler and Clark are being challenged by Jared Woodfill, former chairman of the Harris County GOP, and Cathie Adams, president of the Texas Eagle Forum, respectively.