Texas Democrats in race for Senate differ on Israel, health care
WASHINGTON — Texas Democrats running for the U.S. Senate have plenty of disagreements with Ted Cruz, the Republican incumbent they’re seeking to replace.
But they also differ among themselves on some of the largest issues facing the country.
A crowded field of Democrats is seeking the nomination. The most prominent are U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio and state Rep. Carl Sherman of Desoto.
The three will meet Sunday for their first debate during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education convention. Here are some of the top issues separating them.
ISRAEL AND GAZA
All three have expressed outrage over Hamas’ horrific Oct. 7 attack, but they have differing positions on Israel’s military response in Gaza.
Allred, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has declined to join other Democrats in demanding that Israel agree to a cease fire. The Texas State Democratic Executive Committee approved a resolution in December that condemned the Oct. 7 terrorist attack and called for a cease fire.
“What we have to do in terms of this conflict is continue to try and get humanitarian aid into Gaza, to try and protect civilians as much as possible, but understanding this is a war of choice by Hamas,” Allred told KXAN.
Allred’s support for humanitarian aid to Gaza drew criticism from Cruz, who has predicted such aid would end up in the hands of Hamas and be used in the war against Israel. Cruz opposed President Joe Biden’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel, calling Jack Lew part of President Barack Obama’s policy of “appeasement” toward Iran. Allred said Cruz was using a serious national security matter to score political points.
While Cruz casts Allred as insufficiently supportive of Israel, Gutierrez says Allred has been too willing to let Israel do whatever it wants.
The international community has to prioritize rooting out terrorist groups, but that could be accomplished in Gaza through police actions, Gutierrez said.
“You can do that without carpet bombing communities,” he said.
He criticized the scope of Israel’s strikes since the Oct. 7 attack, saying Gaza is half the size of Austin but home to twice the population.
“Let’s be very clear, there hasn’t been any real targeting,” Gutierrez said. “They’re just bombing anything. They’re bombing mosques, they’re bombing hospitals, they’re bombing schools, they’re bombing apartment buildings. You’ve got to be able to do that in a better way.”
Gutierrez described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a dangerous man fighting for his political future and characterized Allred’s statements that Israel has a right to defend itself as simplistic.
Allred says Hamas could lay down arms and release remaining hostages whenever it chooses.
“It is equally important how Israel conducts themselves in this war, but they do have a right to do that,” Allred said in the KXAN interview.
“It’s incredibly saddening to me to see, obviously, what’s happening, but also to see these stories that are coming back from these hostages and also to see the civilian toll in Gaza. And I hope that we can find a way forward soon that brings the conflict to an end and leaves Hamas no longer in power.”
Sherman backs calls for a cease fire and quoted the Bible’s admonition that “blessed are the peacemakers.” As the country that spends the most on its military, the United States has a responsibility to be the peacemaker, he said.
“People are dying — women and children, innocent people are dying — and whether they are Israelis, Palestinians, whatever, Sudan, as Americans, because we have been blessed we should take the moral high road,” he said.
IMMIGRATION AND BORDER SECURITY
Gutierrez, touting his background as an immigration attorney who represents a district that includes 300 miles of the U.s.-mexico border, has a five-point immigration plan that includes improving “dysfunctional visa programs” and providing a “pathway to normalcy for undocumented workers.”
“We need to truly fix that problem, and no amount of border wall is going to fix it,” he said.
Gutierrez criticized Allred for statements supporting physical barriers along the border, as well as for his Jan. 17 vote in favor of a resolution denouncing “the Biden administration’s open-borders policies.”
A total of 14 Democrats, including two others from Texas, voted for that resolution sponsored by Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-tyler. No Republicans voted against it.
“Congressman Colin Allred joins those that have used the Texas border as a tool to further their dangerous anti-democratic agenda,” Gutierrez said in a statement after the vote. “The system is broken because Washington politicians like Allred and these extremist Republicans he voted with have done nothing to fix it.”
Allred said his support for physical barriers is not an endorsement of the kind of wall that would be more of a symbolic statement than a practical form of border security.
“Our immigration system is broken, and we need a bipartisan comprehensive reform that includes elements of border security, including physical barriers in some places where necessary,” he said.
Allred says comprehensive reform should include improving the country’s asylum system, supporting Border Patrol officers as they deal with a surge of deadly fentanyl flowing into the country and “providing a pathway to earned citizenship for those who are working hard and obeying the law.”
Sherman said Biden inherited a bad situation that Congress has failed to address.
“I believe in working with the locals — local elected officials, local law enforcement, Border Patrol — and working with ICE and working with our number one trading partner, Mexico, on coming up with a sensible way to ensure that we boost our economy while also taking on an approach that comports to our Judeo-christian values,” Sherman said.
FILIBUSTER AND THE SUPREME COURT
The candidates hit similar notes on the need for legislation promoting gun safety, abortion access and voting rights, but they differ on the best way to secure those policies.
Gutierrez says he would seek to toss Senate filibuster rules that allow a 41-senator minority to block almost any legislation. He also supports expanding the Supreme Court beyond nine justices, a step some on the left view as a way to restore abortion rights and pave the way for gun-safety legislation.
A conservative majority of the court has blocked gun-related measures by left-leaning cities and states and struck down 50 years of abortion-rights precedent by overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“We got to nine judges in 1869 for no other reason than we had nine circuits,” Gutierrez said. “We have 13 circuits now. We need a Supreme Court that looks like America, one that’s not bought and paid for, one that has real ethics.”
Allred said he is open to ideas about filibuster “reform” to prevent legislation from being blocked in areas such as voting rights, but he stopped short of endorsing the complete elimination of the filibuster.
“It’s important that the Senate remains a bipartisan center for serious legislation to be formed,” he said. “But I think that the filibuster in recent years has been abused, by both parties, to where now it’s applied to every piece of legislation, which has historically not been the case.”
Bipartisan consensus helps Americans accept major pieces of legislation, he said.
He flatly rejected the idea of expanding the Supreme Court.
Sherman said there are definitely some “political infrastructure deficiencies” in the system.
“But I have not had the chance to really hear all sides of this argument,” Sherman said. “And I think that’s one of the problems with our politics today, is that people look for ways to get around certain things. … What we have to do is just be careful in how we do it.”
HEALTH CARE
Gutierrez says he supports a single-payer system, often referred to as “Medicare for all,” at least for those who want to participate in it.
Supporters of such an approach say having a single government or quasi-governmental agency that provides health coverage to all is the most efficient way to cover everyone. Opponents object to the cost to taxpayers and what they view as too much government control.
Gutierrez said other industrialized countries such as Spain, France, Japan and Australia have similar systems and said too many Democratic and Republican politicians are beholden to big private insurance companies.
“This isn’t some wild-eyed liberal’s view of how the world should be,” Gutierrez said. “This is a basic human right, and people need to start recognizing this issue.”
Allred opposes a single-payer system but supports other avenues to ensure Texans have access to affordable health insurance and prescription drugs.
He has touted his support for the Inflation Reduction Act, which capped insulin costs at $35 a month, and his support for protecting the Affordable Care Act from Republican-led repeal efforts.
Sherman emphasized the need for Texas to expand Medicaid.
Pressed on whether he would support a Medicare for all style plan, Sherman said he would “support moving in that direction.”
“It’s a humanitarian issue,” Sherman said. “We’re the only industrialized nation that does not see this.”