Trump endorses Texas Republicans as early primary voting gets underway

By Sally Persons - The Washington Times - Tuesday, February 27, 2018

President Trump tweeted an endorsement for the Texas candidates who face the earliest primaries on the election calendar.

“I want to encourage all of my many Texas friends to vote in the primary for Governor Greg Abbott, Senator Ted Cruz, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton. They are helping me to Make America Great Again! Vote early or on March 6th,” Mr. Trump tweeted.

Early voting has already begun in the Texas races, and all of the state’s top Republicans have challengers, with the exception of Mr. Paxton. Sen. Ted Cruz faces four other Republicans in his first re-election bid.

Democrats are also expected to have primary fights as they hope to challenge Republicans in the deep-red state. Democrats are hoping to tie Mr. Trump’s historically low approval rating, although with Congress’ even worse rating, to the Republican incumbents.

The most prominent Democrat, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, had already raised big money — over $6 million by the end of last year — in his bid to challenge Mr. Cruz’s Senate seat. He is considered the top candidate for a Democratic win and has also been endorsed by End Citizens United PAC.

A blue team win in the state will still be challenging. The last time a Democrat held a U.S. Senate seat was 1993, and they last held the governorship in 1995. A Republican trifecta has run the state since 2003.