Senate field assails Abbott for decision to reject refugees
Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to turn away refugees became a target of criticism among Democrats running for Senate at a Greenspointarea event Saturday, where several hopefuls fielded questions about the economy, gun control and criminal justice.
“I’m telling you this: The reality is if we get out and do what we’re supposed to do in November, Greg Abbott will get the message,” longtime state Sen. Royce West said. Abbott, the only governor thus far to opt out of the federal program, said Friday that Texas is overburdened with immigrants crossing the southern border.
For much of the rest of the two-hour event town hall, candidates concentrated their ire on Sen. John Cornyn, whom the winner of the primary will almost certainly face in the general election.
When asked in a lighter portion of the event for a book recommendation, former City Councilwoman Amanda Edwards offered “David and Goliath” by Malcolm Gladwell.
“I, of course, would be David, and John Cornyn is Goliath,” said Edwards, who trained her eye on Cornyn throughout the event.
Ten of the 12 candidates vying for the Democratic nomination attended the town hall at Green House International Church, which one organizer hailed as the best attendance so far in the campaign. It was hosted by the Harris County Democratic Party and a bevy of other local groups.
The event began with a message from the man whose relative success the field is seeking to emulate: former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who lost to Sen. Ted Cruz by 2.6 percentage points in 2018. He taped a message thanking participants.
“This race is winnable,” he said.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, was also there to rally the crowd, leading them in chants of “we will win.”
Combat veteran and former congressional candidate MJ Hegar, considered a front-runner in the race, was a notable absence on stage. Hegar has led in the few polls of the field and recently won the endorsement of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Before the start of the event, a Texas Democratic Party official emphasized to the crowd that they get to choose their nominee, not party leaders in Washington, D.C.
Chris Bell, a former congressman and city councilman, tied his campaign to efforts to combat gun control and climate change. He came out in favor of a nationwide red flag law — in which law enforcement can ask judges for emergency orders to remove guns from someone they deem a risk to themselves or others — along with universal background checks and an assault weapons ban.
“I don’t have a problem with the Second Amendment,” Bell said. “I have a problem with the people who continue to mischaracterize it and suggest that we can’t make certain guns illegal. We’ve made certain guns illegal in the United
States for centuries now — machine guns, sawed-off shotguns.”
He found little disagreement on stage. Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, a workers’ rights advocate, bragged that she is “the best shot” in her family, but she too voiced support for universal background checks and an assault weapons ban.
“I also graduated high school during the year of the Columbine shooting,” she said. “And I’ve been waiting my entire adult life to see Congress act and do very basic things. … Instead, we decided to teach a generation of children to play dead in their classrooms.”
Annie Garcia, a business owner and nonprofit founder, also proposed holding credit companies responsible when they finance gun purchases used in mass shootings. She said they already refuse to finance bitcoin purchases and should do the same with guns
West, who continually emphasized his decades of legislative experience, said he’s been working on the issue since Ann Richards was governor. He didn’t offer concrete policy endorsements in that domain but said mental health must be considered as well.
Edwards used the issue to criticize Cornyn’s leadership.
“That question I think we must answer with a switch in leadership,” she said. “John Cornyn has talked about it being complex. Well, I have news: If you are not ready for complex issues, then you are not fit to be the U.S. senator.”
Edwards branded herself as a “pro-growth” progressive, emphasizing the need for upward mobility and opportunity. She pitched workforce training programs and the need to expand broadband access to the parts of Texas that don’t have it.
“We have to make sure that we are creating and preserving good job opportunities for Americans, but not just thinking about it in the guise of trade policy,” she said. “What we need is a systematic, comprehensive approach to how we provide people with upward mobility opportunities within the industries they already exist in today.”
Tzintzún Ramirez stressed her experience in organizing. She helped create the Workers Defense Project, advocating for workers and immigrants, and launched Jolt, a group dedicated to registering and mobilizing Latinos in Texas. She said her top priorities were universal health care and an accessible economy.
She also broached overhauling the criminal justice system, referring to a proposal from Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., that she recently endorsed. The plan gives incentives for state and local governments to decrease prison populations and calls for the elimination of cash bail.
“How did we get here? We got here by building a system that was more concerned with retribution than justice,” Tzintzún Ramirez said. “We got here by building a system that disproportionately targeted the poor and people of color.’
The primary will be held March 3.