With one month to go before the Super Tuesday primary, candidates in Texas’ U.S. Senate contest are taking their messages to the airwaves.
For incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, whois being challenged by Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt in the Republican primary, that means launching a new TV ad touting his reputation for being “tough on illegal immigration.”
The new ad launched Wednesday, Feb. 4, Cornyn, R-Texas, features National Border Patrol Council Vice President Hector Garza reminding voters that his organization is backing Cornyn for reelection, largely on the back of his work to crack down on illegal immigration and secure funding for the border wall.
The ad also seeks to draw a direct line between Cornyn and President Donald Trump, something that has been a familiar cadence among Republican primary candidates throughout the campaign.
“Sen. Cornyn votes with President Trump 99% of the time,” Garza says in the ad. “Together, they secured funding to finish the wall and hired 3,000 new border patrol agents.”
“Sen. Cornyn and President Trump are keeping Texans safe,” he continues. “John Cornyn is tough on illegal immigration.”
Talarico taking his message to Super Bowl viewers
State Rep. James Talarico is using the biggest sporting event of the year as a springboard for getting his own message out to a wide swath of Texans.
Talarico, D-Austin, announced his plans for a six-figure Super Bowl ad Thursday, Feb 5. The 30-second ad, entitled “Billionaires,” leans on a central message of Talarico’s campaign: power must be wrested from the hands of the wealthy and returned to the working class.
Talarico is in a tight race against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas for the Democratic Party nomination in the Texas U.S. Senate race.
“Billionaires don’t just influence politicians, they own them,” Talarico says in the new ad. “That’s why I don’t take corporate PAC money. It’s why I fought to cap campaign contributions.”
“In the Senate, I’ll ban billionaires from making unlimited secret donations,” he continues. “I’ll stop members of Congress from trading stocks, and I’ll raise taxes on those at the top to fund tax cuts for the rest of us.”
Following the Super Bowl, the ad will run statewide as part of the campaign’s multi-million-dollar ad buy.
Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times and can be reached via email at apowell@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Texas Senate race: Cornyn, Talarico take messages to TV viewers
Reporting by Adam Powell, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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