RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is up for re-election this year. He is one of three candidates on the Republican ticket. The Democrats have nine candidates running for the nomination and some are polling well against him.
ValleyCentral spoke with Cruz’s campaign and some of his opponents on the political importance of the Rio Grande Valley.
A recent National Public Affairs poll of 807 likely voters shows Cruz tied with Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, of Texas’ 32nd Congressional District, which includes parts of Dallas and surrounding communities.
A Nexstar/Emerson College poll last month showed Cruz just one point ahead of Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents the Uvalde region.
Gutierrez held a get-out-the-vote rally in Pharr on Monday and openly criticized Cruz and Gov. Greg Abbott’s handling of immigration.
“The solutions that Abbott and Ted Cruz offer are nothing, are nothing other than hurting people and wasting our money. And so, we have to have a solution that makes sense,” Gutierrez said.
Another Democratic opponent, Carl Sherman, who also represents the Dallas area explained why the Rio Grande Valley is an important place to win voters, not just for Cruz but for Democrats too.
“Politically, Democrats may have in the past sort of taken it for granted and there are a few things that certainly the RGV area with its population right now and the projected trajectory to grow tremendously. The issues with the border are front and center.”
Another Democrat in the senate primary is Steve Keough, a retired Navy captain and attorney. He says he has spent time in Harlingen, Brownsville, and will be back in the RGV before election day.
Cruz’s campaign team was asked why the senator is focusing more on the RGV than say 12 years ago.
“For more than a century, Democrats have been politically dominant in South Texas but today’s Democrat party has changed. It has abandoned the conservative values that have defined the Hispanic community for generations … and for that reason, the Valley has steadily been getting more and more Republican. Our values of faith, family, hard work, and patriotism are better reflected in the GOP.”
His campaign says he has always focused on the Rio Grande Valley.
“For the past 12 years, as Texas’ senator, I’ve spent a lot of time in the Valley. Meeting with community leaders, fighting for more water for farmers and ranchers, and championing small business by building highways and expanding bridges across the Rio Grande.”
Cruz has made several trips to south Texas in recent months where he has been outspoken about what he calls the failures of the Biden Administration on immigration.
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