Friday, March 22, 2019

From the Fort Worth Start-Telegram: Conservatives worried about Dems in Texas decide to leave Cornyn alone

For 2305 students and this week's written assignment. hat's going on here? 

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Leaders of a deep-pocketed conservative group that spent millions in Texas last election cycle says the state is now at such risk of turning blue in 2020, it will consider helping moderate Republican incumbents once deemed potential targets for its primary efforts.

Despite floating the idea of funding a challenger to Texas Sen. John Cornyn the last time he was on the ballot in 2014, Club for Growth President David McIntosh told the Star-Telegram Friday his group is now concerned about the state’s political future, and would spend money on Cornyn’s behalf if the senator draws a difficult challenge from a Democrat.

“If we get a sense that Cornyn has a vulnerability, then we’ll come back to that and decide whether we should engage,” said McIntosh, whose group has already begun polling in Texas for 2020. “That would be Texas-specific,” he added of his group’s overall strategy for the Senate map this cycle. “Were mainly interested in three states where the Republican primary is key.”

The Club for Growth PAC and Club for Growth Action spent roughly $5 million in Texas in 2018, and considers the state fertile ground for its goal of electing conservative allies to Washington.

In the months following an election in which nine GOP members of Congress received less than 52 percent of the vote, however, it’s been huddling with Republicans of all stripes who are concerned about rapid Democratic gains.

Though the group can’t legally coordinate on strategy with campaigns or the state party, it now heads into the 2020 cycle in lock-step with the Republican Party of Texas, whose leaders it has huddled with in both D.C. and Austin.

“The November results were a reminder to everyone of what’s at stake if we focus too much of our attention inward and not toward the general election in November, so I certainly hope that everyone has gotten the message,” said James Dickey, chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.

“In any race we should be considering whether the potential benefit of a possible change is significantly outweighed by the potential risk of a much worse change,” said Dickey.