Texas
After overlooking O’Rourke, national Democrats show early confidence in Allred
![After overlooking O’Rourke, national Democrats show early confidence in Allred](https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/Tia4Awnse1sMnxTwENrB-o5D_Ko=/1200x630/filters:quality(95):focal(2x0:2999x1634)/static.texastribune.org/media/files/585391514514755db0977e4cd67c2806/0128%20Dem%20Senate%20Primary%20MC%20TT%2016.jpg)
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WASHINGTON — With more than four months left before Election Day 2018, Democrat Beto O’Rourke had campaigned in all of Texas’ 254 counties in his bid to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. It was a novel strategy central to breaking through in a Republican-controlled state that national Democrats had largely written off.
Six years later, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred is taking a much more traditional approach to campaigning as he tries to do what O’Rourke couldn’t: topple Cruz. Allred has made only 125 campaign stops so far, focusing instead on getting his message out early and directly to wide swaths of voters in TV, radio and digital ads. The Allred campaign isn’t skimping on the state’s expensive media markets, booking ads in the Houston, San Antonio, Laredo and Rio Grande Valley markets last month, and placing English and Spanish ads on digital platforms statewide.
Most notably, national Democrats are showing their confidence by investing in the state more proactively than in the past.
The change in tactic shows how the landscape in Texas has evolved for Democrats since the last time they tried to oust Cruz. Democrats outside of Texas have long thought the state is just too big, too expensive and too Republican to bother pouring in money. But the near-success of the 2018 O’Rourke campaign, the development of Democratic campaign infrastructure and the roster of U.S. Senate seats up for election this year are pushing the party to take Texas more seriously.
“In terms of Texas, we have a real opportunity there. Colin Allred is a strong candidate. He won decisively a primary. He is a man who was able to win a tough seat in the Dallas area, beating an entrenched Republican,” Sen. Gary Peters, who chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a March interview with MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “He knows how to win.”
To be sure, Democrats will be running uphill in the state, which Republicans have dominated for a generation. Cruz has made it clear he is not taking anything for granted after the 2018 scare when O’Rourke came within 3 points of beating him. That year was the closest Democrats came to breaking their long-running statewide drought.
Cruz maintains strong support among conservative voters in Texas, often polling close to Gov. Greg Abbott for most popular statewide elected official among registered Republicans. Cruz is better armed this cycle, with almost double the amount of cash on hand now than at the same point in 2018.
Cruz is also a more seasoned candidate than he was during his last run. He has greater seniority in the Senate and a roster of legislative accomplishments he is eagerly touting — many of which he achieved with members of the other party. As the top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, he oversaw his GOP colleagues in passing aviation safety legislation, and he has worked with Democrats on issues ranging from sexual assault in the military to cross-border commerce. For the first time, he’s making his bipartisanship and less-celebrated work a core part of his campaign.
National Democrats show their interest
The DSCC identified the state as one of its top two pick-up opportunities this year along with Florida. The group is funding staffers in the state and funneling money into advertising. And with several months until Election Day, Democratic strategists alert that the pushes will only amplify exponentially as the summer months progress.
The DSCC included Texas in a $79 million ad buy announced last fall, including a seven-figure digital advertising investment for the state. It has financed new staff positions in Texas dedicated to finding and pitching opposition material on Cruz, and ran an ad casting Cruz as pushing legislation that would curb Medicare and Social Security benefits.
Veterans of the O’Rourke campaign say no such support existed from national Democrats this early in the 2018 cycle.
“There wasn’t as much of a presumption of coordination in 2018 as there is now because Texas hadn’t been competitive statewide in 25 years,” said Katherine Fischer, a Beto campaign alumna who is now deputy executive director of Texas Majority PAC.
It took years for Texas Democrats to get their national counterparts to take their runs seriously. Former state Sen. Wendy Davis remembers during her 2014 gubernatorial run — which got intense coverage following her historic filibuster against an abortion bill the year before — that national Democrats often used her story to fundraise, only to send the money to other gubernatorial candidates in other states.
“Now, not only do you have the verbal support for calling from these groups, but what you’re starting to see is they’re going to make significant investments in this race,” Davis said. “And that’s the first time that we’ve had this kind of national political money coming in to help one of our statewide candidates.”
Matt Angle, director of the Lone Star Project, said Democrats outside of the state were much more interested in House races in 2018 than helping O’Rourke. Several districts were competitive that year and attracted millions in investment from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, including Allred’s House race that year.
Meanwhile, the DSCC was faced with an unfavorable map for Democrats and more attainable pick-up opportunities in the far less expensive swing states of Nevada and Arizona (Democrats won in both races that year). Texas contains two of the 10 most expensive media markets in the country (Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston), and the sheer vastness of the state makes it a daunting prospect.
“Beto gets most of the credit” for his 2018 successes, Angle said. “Whatever the DSCC did, they did late. That’s not surprising. That’s what I would expect: The DSCC first would have to protect their incumbents and Texas is a giant investment statewide for them.”
Zack Malitz, who was the field director of O’Rourke’s 2018 campaign, said the campaign’s aggressive investments in recruiting a large volunteer network could help future Democratic candidates.
“One built-in advantage that Texas campaigns have now is that you have tens of thousands of people who have volunteered on well-managed field programs in Texas and so the upfront investment to activate those people is a lot lower now,” Malitz.
A bad map for Dems, a good map for Texas Dems
National Democrats are zeroing in on Texas to a certain extent because there are no better alternatives for their attention. The Senate map this year is generally unfavorable for Democrats, who have several vulnerable incumbents up for reelection, while all Republicans up for reelection are in generally safe states.
Democrats are spending considerable funds to protect Sens. Sherrod Brown in Ohio and Jon Tester in Montana — both representing states that voted for former President Donald Trump in 2020 by significant margins. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent who was previously a Democrat, is not running for reelection in her swing state of Arizona.
Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, and Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, will also be up for reelection this year in states that voted for President Joe Biden by a margin of less than three points. In Maryland, the popular former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan has the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in his bid to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.
Meanwhile, the Republican Senate seats up for election this year outside of Texas and Florida are in Wyoming, Tennessee, Indiana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Utah and Mississippi. None are states Democrats are particularly optimistic about flipping.
“While the Senate calculus for where we pick up the state is pretty narrow, the Senate calculus for where we have to hold is actually pretty wide,” said Tory Gavito, president of Democratic donor network Way to Win. “There’s a lot of money that needs to go into Montana, Nevada, Arizona, where we already hold Senate seats.”
Fischer notes that trends could point favorably for Democrats in the future. Of states Biden lost in 2020, Texas had the third smallest margin behind Florida and North Carolina. North Carolina has no open Senate seats this year, and Florida has demonstrated a considerable rightward shift in the last several years, Fischer said.
“Texas is by far the best pick-up opportunity,” said Fischer. “They have to play some offense, too, and if they’re looking at offense, then Texas is definitely their best opportunity.”
Confidence in Allred
Allred polls relatively close to where O’Rourke was at this point in 2018. By May of 2018, polls showed Cruz comfortably ahead of O’Rourke by as much as 11 points in a Quinnipiac poll. An April poll by the University of Texas and The Texas Tribune show Cruz ahead of Allred by 13 points.
But it’s still early in the cycle, and investments into Texas could expand considerably later in the summer. The Senate Majority PAC, Democrats’ largest independent spending group, has not yet made public any plans to invest in Texas, but its leadership hinted it could later in the year. The group has already reserved $239 million in ads focusing on defending its incumbents in vulnerable states.
O’Rourke’s momentum also didn’t escalate until much later in 2018. He had exponential growth in fundraising in the final quarter of the year before November, surging to $70.2 million by Election Day. He had reported under $25 million up to the end of the prior quarter.
Democrats emphasize Allred is a strong candidate in his own right and has been aggressive in his messaging efforts to attack Cruz. Allred is running on a decidedly moderate platform in contrast with past statewide candidates — a strategy on display ahead of the primary when state Sen. Roland Gutierrez tried to win the nomination on a much more progressive message. It’s an approach that Davis said makes Allred more appealing to male and moderate voters.
“He appeals to people in a way that is unique, not just to Democrats, but to independents and to moderate Republicans as well because he is a person who doesn’t need to be the center of attention,” Davis said. “He just wants to do the work.”
Allred also outraised both Cruz (and O’Rourke’s 2018 campaign) in the first quarter of the year. Allred raised over $9.7 million in the first three months of the year to O’Rourke’s over $6.7 million in the first quarter of 2018. In the first quarter of this year, Cruz raised over $6.9 million through his principal campaign, but that figure goes up to $9.7 million when including his other fundraising operations, some of which is for other candidates.
Allred also has a record of winning a competitive seat in his Dallas-based district in 2018 against U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, who was later elected in 2020 to represent Waco. Sessions was a formidable opponent, having overseen the National Republican Congressional Committee during the 2010 cycle — one of his party’s most successful in decades.
O’Rourke, who never represented a competitive district, did not have that track record to bolster confidence in his run among his D.C. counterparts.
“You don’t act on nostalgia. I mean, it’s cold blooded,” Angle said. “And you look at each election cycle in its cycle, and Beto gets plenty of credit for the success he had in 2018. But [national Democrats] are looking at what Colin Allred is doing.”
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Texas
Dan Patrick laments Texas not enacting Ten Commandments law first
![Dan Patrick laments Texas not enacting Ten Commandments law first](https://www.kxan.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2023/04/10.png?w=1280)
AUSTIN (KXAN) — This week Louisiana became the first state in the country to require schools to display the Ten Commandments in their classrooms, which struck a nerve with one prominent Republican in Texas.
On his personal X account, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick posted a screenshot Thursday of a headline noting this milestone for Texas’ neighbor, and he expressed his disappointment in a similar proposal failing to become law here in the state.
“Texas WOULD have been and SHOULD have been the first state in the nation to put the 10 Commandments back in our schools,” Patrick wrote on X.
The Texas Senate approved Senate Bill 1515 along a party-line vote on April 20 last year during the regular legislative session. The legislation, which was introduced by Texas Sen. Phil King of Weatherford, would have made public K-12 schools put up “a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments” in a “conspicuous place in each classroom.” The bill required the display to be at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall, and the text would have to be “in a size and typeface that is legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the classroom.”
Members of the public education committee in the Texas House of Representatives advanced the legislation at a May 16, 2023, hearing. However, the full House never took up SB 1515 last year, so the proposal did not advance any further.
In his X posts Thursday, Patrick used that to once again excoriate Speaker Dade Phelan, who won a primary runoff last month against a challenger backed by the lieutenant governor and former President Donald Trump.
“Every Texas Republican House member would have voted for it. But, SPEAKER Dade Phelan killed the bill by letting it languish in committee for a month assuring it would never have time for a vote on the floor,” Patrick wrote. “This was inexcusable and unacceptable. Putting the Ten Commandments back into our schools was obviously not a priority for Dade Phelan.”
Patrick also said this legislation is needed to “remind students all across Texas of the importance of a fundamental foundation of American and Texas law: the Ten Commandments.” He ended his X post with this promise: “I will pass the 10 Commandments Bill again out of the Senate next session.”
Texas does have a red granite monument listing the Ten Commandments displayed on the Capitol grounds in Austin. According to the Texas State Preservation Board, this was erected in 1961 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles of Texas.
Louisiana’s law, which Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed earlier this week, differs slightly from the proposal debated last year in Texas. For one the size of the displays in Louisiana must be 11 inches by 14 inches. It also applies to more than just K-12 classrooms in public schools. State-funded universities and colleges in the Pelican State must also display a poster-sized copy of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” next year.
Civil liberties groups are already planning to file lawsuits to block the law from taking effect in Louisiana, arguing it’s unconstitutional. However, Gov. Landry along with the state’s Republican attorney general said they would look forward to defending the law in court.
Texas
ACLU Texas, students send letters to UT in response to disciplinary notices for protesters
![ACLU Texas, students send letters to UT in response to disciplinary notices for protesters](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/04/29/NAAS/73504057007-aem-042924-ut-protest-7407225.jpg?auto=webp&crop=2877,1618,x0,y235&format=pjpg&width=1200)
The ACLU of Texas has sent a letter to University of Texas President Jay Hartzell expressing its fear that the university “may be squelching the First Amendment rights of its students” and chilling protected expression by investigating the conduct of some students who were arrested at pro-Palestinian protests April 24 and 29 on campus.
UT first initiated disciplinary proceedings June 7 for alleged rule violations by some student protesters, the American-Statesman previously reported. The letters included copies of arrest affidavits, pictures from the protests and Instagram posts about the demonstrations.
As part of the university’s letter, students were asked to prepare a written statement in response to 12 questions about their conduct that the American Civil Liberties Union said “presupposes that students receiving these notices violated University policy and ignores that the First Amendment protects peaceful protest.”
The ACLU also pointed to its concern about UT citing the probable cause affidavits as evidence, alleging that it violates students’ due process, as charges against all the protesters who were arrested April 24 were dismissed, and individuals “cannot be held responsible for the actions of a group simply because they participated in free speech activity.” It alleges that students are being punished indiscriminately for their involvement in the protests instead of any individual violations.
UT spokesperson Mike Rosen said in a June 14 email in regard to a second round of disciplinary notices the university issued that students were not being disciplined for protesting, but for violating university rules.
“UT Austin supports the rights of all members of our community to demonstrate and express their views while on our campus as long as they comply with our Institutional Rules,” he wrote.
Savannah Kumar, staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas, said the organization sent UT the letter out of fear that the university’s investigations would violate the protesters’ rights and chill free speech.
“When participating in protest is placed under such scrutiny and when students are put through these investigations, it suffocates the breathing room for our constitutional rights and can also erode the core tenets of the university too,” Kumar said. “That’s why we were concerned about what we’re seeing.”
Students reject accusations of rule violations
Police arrested a total of 136 people at the two protests, including 60 students. Many have criticized the police response as excessive and escalatory, but Hartzell, Gov. Greg Abbott and UT System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife praised the significant police action as necessary and effective in keeping the campus safe.
The UT protests were held in solidarity with other demonstrations across the nation that called on universities to divest from weapons manufacturers contributing to Israel’s war against Hamas, which has reportedly resulted in more than 34,000 deaths in Gaza. Israel began bombarding Gaza after Hamas, the region’s militant governing body, attacked the Jewish state on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people.
The ACLU’s letter follows a collective letter that UT students sent to the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity in response to the disciplinary notices, which alleged that students failed to comply with university rules and engaged in disruptive conduct. The students in their nine-page letter deny the university’s accusations and express fear that the process will be biased against them.
“We object to the accusation that our engagement in protected free speech activity is ‘disruptive’ to the university’s function,” the students’ letter said. “Indeed, we resolutely affirm the opposite: by exercising our basic rights to speech and peaceable assembly, we were, in fact, directly carrying out a daily function of the University.”
The collective letter cites past statements from the university and Hartzell supporting free speech, and it asks for all students to receive a no findings letter instead of an administrative disposition.
“We ask that you consider this and treat us with the compassion and understanding we deserve as students, Longhorns, and members of a democratic society,” the students’ letter said.
Sam Law, a UT graduate student who was arrested April 29 and received a disciplinary letter, said 23 students are planning to submit the letter to the university. He said people are also submitting character references and letters of support.
“The university hasn’t told us what the possible disciplinary consequences are, but a lot of us are deeply afraid that it could be suspensions or expulsions,” Law said, adding that that’s why many people decided to respond despite legal concerns with addressing allegations. “That is a much more severe consequence than a legal consequence.”
The students also mention concern over the process bypassing a typically scheduled in-person meeting in favor of written statements, which they worry will further reduce their right to due process. Rosen said previously in his June 14 email that the process ensures all students have due process.
Two teaching assistants who were removed from their position last fall for sending a pro-Palestinian message to their class did not have the opportunity for an in-person hearing because of a last-minute policy change by Hartzell to make the process more efficient. Their grievances for their job reassignments were eventually denied.
‘We enforce our institutional rules’
Rosen said the university cannot comment on individual cases, but on June 14 an undisclosed number of disciplinary notices were sent out to student protesters for alleged rules violations.
“The University has made clear that we enforce our institutional rules, and the conduct notices sent to students who violated our rules during protests on April 24 and 29 reflect that commitment,” the university’s statement said.
Kumar, however, said the university’s rules still need to leave “breathing space for the Constitution.”
“The university can’t just be invoking these rules and saying that if students broke these rules that’s enough to punish them if that application of those rules is squelching the right to engage in free speech activities, which is not something that students leave behind just because they decide to enroll,” Kumar said.
Rosen did not respond to the Statesman’s specific questions about UT’s response to the ACLU’s and students’ letters.
Law said protesters believe they are not guilty of the university’s accusations and are grateful for the ACLU’s support.
“I hope that the university takes it seriously and lives up to the principles that it purports to defend,” Law said.
Texas
Texas QB Commit KJ Lacey Opens Up About Official Visit Plans, Arch Manning Connection
![Texas QB Commit KJ Lacey Opens Up About Official Visit Plans, Arch Manning Connection](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_1024,h_576,x_0,y_107/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/longhorns_country/01j0t7symvmjbyy0wtjm.jpg)
LOS ANGELES, CA – Texas Longhorns quarterback commit KJ Lacey just wrapped up an impressive showing at the 2024 Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles and was in the thick of the race for the coveted MVP Award all week.
However, with the event now over, Lacey turns his attention toward a trip to Austin for this official visit to the 40 Acres, where he is set to be hosted by none other than Texas backup QB Arch Manning.
On Thursday in a one-on-one interview with Longhorns Country, Lacey opened up about his plans of his upcoming visit, as well as his growing relationship with Manning.
“Just have fun while I’m out there and get to know the coaches even better,” Lacey said. “I think Arch (Manning) will be the host for my (official visit), so I want to get to know Arch a little bit more, and why he chose Texas… We have a pretty good relationship. We talk here and there. Every time I go up there I ask him a lot of questions.”
Lacey won’t be the only big-time recruit visiting Austin this weekend either, with the Saraland (AL) four-star QB set to be joined by a star-studded group of prospects, headlined by the five-star receiver duo of Jaime Ffrench and Kaliq Lockett.
And for Lacey, one of the main priorities on his official visit will be to show Ffrench and Lockett exactly why Texas is home.
“It’ll be Jaime Ffrench’s I think second time back to Austin, so just let him have the best time of his life while he’s out there, let him know what’s home, and get him locked in,” Lacey said on Thursday. “Also with Kaliq, I’m not sure how many times he’s been there but he’s from Texas, so I’m pretty sure he’s been a few times. I think those are the main two targets for me just on the receiver side right there that I want to get at.”
In fact, Lacey already got to spend some time with Ffrench this week, as the Mandarin (Jacksonville, FL) five-star took part in Day 1 of the Elite 11 Finals on Tuesday, and spending some time with the other prospects on the sidelines on Wednesday.
Lacey, of course, did his best to take advantage of that chance, sharing a significant amount of reps with Ffrench on Day 1 in particular.
Now, heading into the O.V., Lacey wants to improve that connection even more.
“The connection has been there for a while,” Lacey said. “I met him at Future 50 last year, and the one-on-one’s he did pretty good out there. He was on the opposite team from me on the 7-on-7… All the way around I feel like our connection is really strong and it’s going to be there for a long time. He’s really fast and his hands are just different. His IQ is also up there, He’s also outgoing. He’s a really nice guy.”
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