Here’s the latest news out of Texas courtesy of Quinnipiac University’s latest poll:
President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are locked in a very tight race in Texas,with Trump receiving 44 percent of the vote and Biden receiving 43 percent in a general election matchup,according to a Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pea-ack) University poll released today. Democrats go for Biden 90 - 5percent, independents do the same 45 - 36 percent, and Republicans go for Trump 87 - 6 percent.
Voters say 54 - 40 percent that Trump would do a better job handling the economy, but say 49 - 43percent that Biden would do a better job handling health care. Voters are split on who would do a better job handling the response to the coronavirus, as 47 percent say Biden and 45 percent say Trump.
"Too tight to tell in Texas. As the country confronts chaos and COVID-19, perhaps one of the most important states of all is a toss-up," said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy.
FAVORABILITY AND JOB APPROVAL RATINGS
In terms of how voters view the candidates, they give both Trump and Biden negative favorability ratings.38 percent of voters view Biden favorably, while 45 percent view him unfavorably. That compares to a February2019 survey when 48 percent viewed him favorably and 38 percent viewed him unfavorably. 42 percent of votersview Trump favorably, and 50 percent view him unfavorably. That compares to a February 2019 survey when 47percent viewed him favorably and 49 percent viewed him unfavorably.
President Trump receives a 45 - 50 percent job approval rating, unchanged from September of 2019.
Governor Greg Abbott receives a 56 - 32 percent job approval rating, compared to 56 - 27 percent in September of 2019.
Senator Ted Cruz receives a 45 - 42 percent job approval rating, compared to 49 - 40 percent in September of 2019.
Senator John Cornyn receives a split 37 - 36 percent job approval rating, compared to 41 - 34 percent in September of 2019.
And while we’re on the discussion of Texas Republicans:
At least John Cornyn has an excuse. President Donald Trump has never implied that the Texas senator's wife was ugly, or that his dad helped kill John F. Kennedy, as he has with Cornyn's Senate colleague and fellow Republican Ted Cruz. Still, it's been a little surprising how quickly Texas' senior senator has been to carry President Donald Trump's water after he gassed protesters and clergy in Washington, D.C., so he could walk to a bizarre photo op and threatened to send the military into U.S. cities.
"I think the president is sending a strong and correct message that we will not tolerate (property damage and theft by protesters) under any circumstances," Cornyn told Fox News Tuesday.
Stopping here to note that Cornyn never said anything remotely similar about the long-gun toting white guys who showed up at state capitols around the country after they were told to stay home during the pandemic.
In a separate interview with CNN , Cornyn said Trump's decision to clear a path through peaceful protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets so he could go hold a Bible upside down and take a photo in front of St. John's Episcopal Church was "a necessary security measure" because the protesters did not clear the area when they were asked to do so.
Also:
“Not only should we demand justice for George Floyd, we should demand justice for these innocent victims of this agitation, this chaos, and the looting we are seeing, the violence around the country,” Sen. John Cornyn said, also on Fox News. “The president is sending a strong and correct message that we will not tolerate it under any circumstances.”
As for Trump’s plan to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to send federal troops into cities to suppress riots, Cornyn said that when police and the National Guard aren’t enough, “in the most extreme circumstances, potentially the U.S. military would be available. I understand the president is sending a strong message to state and local authorities that they need to use the resources available to them because we simply can’t tolerate this sort of lawlessness."
One of the Democrats aiming to face Cornyn in the fall, state Sen. Royce West of Dallas, who faces M.J. Hegar in the primary runoff, said the senators’ stance “says how out of touch both of them are.”
“We are at a flash point in this country” and “their leadership on this issue will be viewed by the people in the state of Texas and across the country,” West said.
Noting that protesters outside the White House were peaceful and hadn’t violated the city’s emergency curfew, he added: “The tactics that were used were very inappropriate. It shows you exactly how ill equipped this president is to be a uniter."
At the Texas Democratic Party, spokesman Billy Begala also tweaked Cornyn for siding with Trump, saying, “The president’s tear-gassing of peaceful protesters and clergy yesterday was revolting and infuriating, as was John Cornyn’s praise for them.”
Cornyn’s opponents have had much better responses:
The Democratic Senate runoff is July 14th. Also, heads up about this:
Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXST) announced today that it will host an exclusive live debate between the two candidates participating in the runoff election for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator from Texas, MJ Hegar and Texas State Senator Royce West. The debate will take place on Saturday, June 6, at 6 p.m. CT, and is the only scheduled face-to-face meeting between the two candidates. The runoff election is scheduled for July 14.
(NOTE: This debate was originally scheduled for June 2, and has been rescheduled to June 6.)
The debate will take place at the studios of KXAN-TV in Austin, TX, and will air exclusively on 14 Nexstar stations across the state of Texas, bringing together more than 21 million viewers via live television broadcast and livestream. The exclusive live broadcast will air from 6 p.m. CT to 7 p.m. CT.
The debate will be shown in KRBC-TV (NBC). The broadcast and livestream will also be carried by KSAT-TV (ABC) in San Antonio. Local viewers may access the livestream of the debate online by visiting their local Nexstar station’s website (bigcountryhomepage.com).
The debate will be moderated by KXAN-TV news anchors Robert Hadlock and Sally Hernandez, and Dallas Morning News political writer, Gromer Jeffers, Jr. The town hall will begin with opening statements from each candidate and then move to questions posed by the moderators, Nexstar journalists from around the state, and viewers. Viewers are invited to submit questions to the candidates via social media using the hashtag #txsendebate, and via email at reportit@KXAN.com.
Let’s win Texas and kick out this white supremacist and his enablers. Click below to donate and get involved Biden and these Texas Democrats campaigns:
Joe Biden
U.S. Senate Runoff:
Mj Hegar
Royce West
Congress:
Gina Ortiz Jones
Wendy Davis
Sima Ladjevardian
Sean McCaffity
Lizzie Fletcher
Mike Siegel
Veronica Escobar
Sri Preston Kulkarni
Candace Valenzuela
Kim Olson
Colin Allered
Joaquin Castro