O'Rourke inspires McCaul opponent
Siegel still underdog in conservative 10th Congressional District.
When former Republican voter Stacey Contreras goes block walking for Democrats in Cypress, she usually wears a Beto O’Rourke shirt, for the candidate challenging U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and a button for Mike Siegel, challenging U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin.
“I tell people, ‘You know about Beto; now let me tell you about Mike Siegel,’” said Contreras, who lives in the Houston suburb at the eastern end of the 10th Congressional District. The district’s western edge hugs the shore of Lake Travis and includes West Austin, where McCaul lives.
Siegel, an attorney for the city of Austin on leave from his job and facing an uphill battle in the conservative district, is looking to capitalize on the energy generated by O’Rourke.
“Beto is turning out a lot of folks,” said Siegel, who showed up at O’Rourke’s Katy town hall event Aug. 9 and spoke for a few minutes while the crowd waited for the three-term El Paso congressman, who’s in a tight race with Cruz, according to several recent polls. “He is now the rock star of Texas.”
Siegel will appear again with O’Rourke at 2 p.m. Monday at Mt. Sinai Baptist Church on Cameron Road, just outside the 10th Congressional District.
Siegel, 40, a political newcomer who moved to Texas in 2013, is unabashedly stealing from O’Rourke’s playbook — holding rallies, attending town halls and block walking across the nine-county district, including in the reddest areas, and actively using social media to build awareness of his campaign.
Siegel placed first among seven Democratic primary contenders and easily won the runoff. Libertarian Mike Ryan is also on the November ballot.
President Donald Trump won the 10th Congressional District by 9 percent- age points, and McCaul won by nearly 20 points in 2016. Even if a national blue wave
comes to pass in November, national prognosticators put little stock in Siegel’s chances. But Siegel’s candidacy is a measure of Dem- ocratic enthusiasm that has spilled into congressional districts held by entrenched Republican incumbents.
“There’s no question that Beto’s campaign with a pos- itive, forward-looking message is really, really helpful,”
Matt Angle, a Democratic strategist who is director of the Lone Star Project political action committee, said of Siegel’s campaign.
Siegel is pushing issues highlighted by O’Rourke, especially health care and immigration, criticizing McCaul for initially calling Trump’s now-reversed policy of separating families entering the country illegally “a
deterrent.” McCaul chairs the House Homeland Security Committee and touts his experience as a lawmaker since 2005.
Siegel touts an internal poll from early August that shows him trailing McCaul by just 3 points, with a mar- gin of error of 4.3 points.
“I’m very encouraged,” Siegel said. “I figured many people didn’t know my name.”
Brendan Steinhauser, who works for the McCaul campaign, said, “We’re confident.”
At the same time, he added, “we’re not taking anything for granted,” with McCaul appearing across the district — though largely at invitation-only events and not the town hall-style open meetings that Democrats are demanding.
As for Siegel’s poll showing that the race is tightening, Steinhauser said, “I’ve seen no evidence of that being the case.”
McCaul campaign metrics — voter enthusiasm, event attendance, fundraising, social media response and internal polling, which the campaign will not release — are buoying the Republican’s candidacy, Steinhauser said.
Even if Democratic enthu- siasm might be high in Austin neighborhoods such as Rosedale, Allandale, Crestview, Brentwood, North Loop and St. John’s, the district is weighted to the Republican-dominated Hous- ton suburbs that Republi- can and Democratic strat- egists agreed would determine the outcome.
“I do not believe anything has changed in CD-10; it is still a solid Republican district,” Rice University political scientist Mark Jones said.
“And, if the district’s natural Republican advantage were not enough, McCaul
has almost 10 times more cash on hand than Siegel, and, as one of the wealthiest members of Congress, would have no difficulty writing himself a check in the seven-figure range if he began to feel even remotely vulnerable,” Jones said.
As of June 30, federal data show McCaul with $438,000 available to spend and Siegel with $47,000.
But Siegel is banking on voters such as insurance company owner Darryl Johnson, a Democrat who often
has voted Republican. He’s been a supporter of McCaul — whom he calls a “great fellow” — but now is all in for Siegel. Johnson, who lives in Waller County, thinks McCaul
hasn’t done enough for the rural parts of the district.
“I believe it’s a time for change,” he said.