If you’re a conservative or a liberal, I’ve got good and bad news for you both.
NY Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz have a good chance of getting knocked out next year. We’ll figure we’ll update you on the competitive senate races too once in a while.
Both New York and Texas are not seen as competitive, but never say never.
In New York, former Congressman Lee Zeldin looks likely to throw his hat into the ring against Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Lee Zeldin challenged Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul last year and got a historic 47% of the vote. Last time a GOP candidate did that well in NY was when Republican Governor George Pataki won re-election back in 2002. Zeldin ran a law and order campaign and got a lot of traction. Zeldin said he’s actively thinking about it and has been criss crossing the state in support of local candidates running this year. That’s usually how you start your campaign, establish some potent goodwill the year before. He said he’s thinking about it and knows the race would be competitive should he jump in. If New York’s crime keeps ticking up, a flip is possible.
But in Texas, a former NFL player has officially thrown his hat in the ring against Sen. Ted Cruz. We all recall his race against Beto O’Rourke, where the El Paso congressman only lost by two percentage points. But the demographics of Texas are changing, and having a black candidate as the party standard bearer may drive more black turnout, thus successfully flipping the seat. One of the key issues with O’Rourke is that he was just a white guy. Had they enlisted someone who was hispanic or black, they might have closed that gap.
Colin Allred also cuts a somewhat moderate bend and has an impressive electoral track record. He reps a swing state, ousting well known conservative Pete Sessions in 2018. Allred is also sitting on 2 million dollars in campaign cash, while Cruz has 3 million. Not a terrible gap.
But Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner may jump in, who is also black. He’d be the strongest. Why? Because the Democrat was deeply opposed to city shutdowns during Covid. He angered many in his party by keeping Houston largely open during the pandemic. Now that might be the real winning recipe. We’ll keep you posted if he jumps in, as he’d be an RFK Jr. style, pro civil liberties Democrat. Looks like it’s a growing movement.
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