Can’t ignore star power
Despite some troubling stands, Republican incumbent on path to deliver for District 2.
U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw is closing in on 1million YouTube subscribers. His fundraising power puts him among the top in Texas and within shouting distance of high-ranking members such as Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. A former Navy SEAL, he has managed to appear both loyal and critical of President Donald Trump, and was the only Texan with a major speaking role at the Republican National Convention.
There’s no question of Crenshaw’s outsized national standing as a freshman congressman, but now his fate is in the hands of Houstonians. Voters in the 2nd Congressional District, which makes a wiggly westward arc from Kingwood to Bellaire, must decide whether that star power benefits the district, Texans and the nation.
Put the glitz aside, though, and his race against Democrat Sima Ladjevardian looks rather conventional.
First, let’s consider what is unusual. Crenshaw, 36, has shown a penchant for standing up to party and president. He wrote a letter of support for the inclusion of Log Cabin Republicans, who represent LGBT conservatives, in the Republican Party of Texas. He’s called for the Republican Party to take climate change more seriously. When Trump criticized Sen. John McCain months after his death and when Trump told the congresswomen in “the squad” to “go back,” Crenshaw tweeted at the president to quit. When Trump withdrew troops from Syria, Crenshaw released a nearly 12-minute video that respectfully but emphatically rejects the president’s rationale.
We applaud Crenshaw for using his platform to take these stands. At other times, he has left us both troubled and disappointed.
Like many others early in the pandemic, Crenshaw argued that masks weren’t effective against the coronavirus. While he changed his mind as evidence showed otherwise — even purchasing and then donating 50,000 masks — he continues to push misrepresentations, as he did in his more recent videos defending Trump’s coronavirus response. He was wrong to call Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s mask order “draconian” and was photographed at a crowded fundraising party not wearing a mask.
We’re also concerned that his positions on key issues for Houston, including how to confront climate change, aren’t far-seeing enough.
He’s called renewable energy “silly” and opposes a carbon tax, something even many major oil companies are coming to embrace. His positions on the border and on prescription drugs also disappoint.
Ladjevardian supports expansion of the Affordable Care Act and supports renewables and better fracking regulation — but no ban — as means to help Texas transition its economy away from over-dependence on fossil fuels. A lawyer and former national adviser to the Beto O’Rourke campaign, she brings passion and plenty of smarts to this race.
And yet, it’s impossible to ignore Crenshaw’s star power. He is smart, driven by ideas and on a fast-track to influence.
If he retains his seat, Crenshaw is likely to wield the kind of power that matters on delivering funding for dredging, roads and floodgates. We believe voters should return him to Congress.