Hopeful draws younger voters
Crenshaw could be ‘face of future’ for Republicans
In a Republican Party in desperate need of younger, more vibrant voices, Dan Crenshaw may be exactly what the GOP is looking for.
When the 34-year-old who nearly died on a battlefield in Afghanistan six years ago surged to a stunning victory Tuesday night, he didn’t just win the party’s nomination in a Republican primary battle for Congress that few thought he could win. He became a potential star on the national stage because of his war-hero story and a charisma that is drawing younger voters.
“It’s so exciting to have fresh faces emerging like Dan who will lead the Republican Party forward into the next generation,” said Jack Pandol, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “Wise political observers will start keeping an eye on Dan right now, because he has a bright future.”
Conservative radio host Michael Berry has seen countless Republican Party candidates come and go, but he said he saw something special about Crenshaw before most people. Berry said when you hear about Crenshaw’s war injuries and stint as a Navy SEAL, “you expect a big, burly dude.” But while Crenshaw is fit and strong, he comes across as a cerebral guy and oozes authen-
ticity. Berry said the GOP needs an authentic, young conservative voice with real world experience — not just another suit who was student body president in college.
“I have seen the face of the future of the Republican Party and the leadership of America,” Berry told Crenshaw’s supporters at an election night party at the Cadillac Bar. “And it’s wearing an eye patch.”
Crenshaw’s distinctive eye patch covers the right eye he lost in 2012 when a roadside bomb killed his Afghan interpreter and nearly killed him. Crenshaw said at first he couldn’t see at all and credits his doctors with pulling off a miracle to keep him alive and restore vision in his left eye.
Next generation
At the Cadillac Bar, voters in their 30s or younger gushed about Crenshaw breaking the mold of what they have come to expect from a Republican running for Congress.
“It’s nice to see he’s not just another lawyer going to Congress,” Gus Smythe said as he spoke to fellow millennials Jimmy Kim and Tyler Granato.
Granato said Crenshaw’s background makes him hard not to like.
“He’s the American comeback story,” Granato said.
If Crenshaw wins in November, at 34 years-old, he would enter Congress as the youngest member from Texas and would be one of the youngest in Congress. He would be four months older than the current youngest representative, Elise Stefanik.
The presence of dozens of people under 40 at Crenshaw’s party was a welcome sight for Republicans. A poll by Tufts University showed that only one-third of young adults hold a favorable view of the Republican Party. President Donald Trump carried just 37 percent of the millennial electorate, the same percentage that former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney drew in 2012.
Early in Crenshaw’s campaign, he made his potential appeal to younger voters a central part of his campaign messages.
“I know the importance of carrying the conservative movement through to the next generation,” he said.
After his victory on Tuesday, Crenshaw said it was important to have a campaign that excites young people, gets them involved and passes constitutionalism to the next generation. He credits his younger supporters and volunteers for helping spread his campaign when it looked like he was in trouble.
As absentee ballots started to arrive in March, his campaign’s internal data that showed Crenshaw was in big trouble in the first round of the primary — something official results later would confirm. With almost 7,000 absentee votes cast, the data showed Crenshaw was a whopping 28 percentage points behind experienced
political candidate Kevin Roberts in the nine-way primary to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Atascocita.
Crenshaw didn’t know the exact numbers, but the campaign knew they were way behind. Results released later showed Crenshaw was more than 20 percentage points behind second place candidate Kathaleen Wall, a longtime GOP donor who had spent $6 million of her own money on her campaign.
Crenshaw reorganized his campaign for early voting. With an army of supporters blanketing polling stations, Crenshaw dominated voting on March 6 and slipped into second place by just 155 votes in an election where 46,000 ballots were counted. He made it into a second round runoff because no candidate was able to get at least 50 percent of the vote.
The margin became known in the Crenshaw campaign as “Mission 155.”
That put Crenshaw against Roberts, who had the most votes in the primary and a network of Republican support. Crenshaw crushed Roberts on Tuesday, sending him to
“Crenshaw has the potential to be a national security star almost immediately.” Dan Conston, GOP strategist
the general election, where he is favored to defeat Democrat Todd Litton and Libertarian Patrick Gunnels.
“If anybody had done any less work, went to bed a little earlier,” Crenshaw told his supporters as his wife, Tara, stood next to him, “we wouldn’t be here.”
National attention
Crenshaw, who graduated from Tufts University and has a master’s degree from Harvard University, is deeply invested in public policy. He wrote all his own position papers, something many candidates outsource to campaign staffers.
That pedigree has national political campaign strategists like Dan Conston itching to get Crenshaw into the U.S. Capitol Building. Conston is a veteran of U.S. Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and helped get U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio elected to the Senate in 2010. Rubio and McCain are two of Congress’ go-to voices on foreign policy.
“Crenshaw has the potential to be a national security star almost immediately, has the profile of a next-generation Republican leader and has policy depth far beyond most politicians,” said Conston, who helped organize a super PAC called American Patriots that spent more than $500,000 to help Crenshaw.
Crenshaw’s star potential has made him a regular on Fox News Channel. Just this week, Crenshaw was booked for two appearance on the popular Fox & Friends morning program, including the day before the election. And before early voting, he was featured on Fox News Sunday. Crenshaw has appeared on Fox programs at least six times since January. Fox never invited Roberts or Wall.