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AUSTIN — The state’s two largest law enforcement groups disagree on whether Sen. Ted Cruz and several other top Republican incumbents deserve their support this election year.
This week, the 27,000-member strong Texas Municipal Police Association will endorse the sitting senator over his Democratic challenger, El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke. But the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, or CLEAT, which bills itself as the largest police officers union in the state, will not endorse either man because of concerns about their policies.
Cruz spokesperson Catherine Frazier said the senator is “grateful” for the endorsements he’s received from law enforcement groups like TMPA, the National Border Patrol Council and the San Antonio Police Officers Association. He’s also backed by 171 sheriffs across the state, Frazier added, including those from Collin, Denton, Ellis, Kaufman and Tarrant counties.
“Texas peace officers are a cornerstone of the Lone Star State,” Frazier said. “They put themselves in harm’s way every day to keep Texas families safe and uphold our exceptional quality of life. Ted Cruz is committed to honoring their service and providing them with the tools and support they need to carry out their duties.”
CLEAT and TMPA have historically butted heads, with each claiming they’re the representative voice for Texas’ boys in blue. But they’ve never been so split over endorsements. And their disagreement doesn’t stop with Cruz — it extends to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who face challenges from Democrats Mike Collier and Justin Nelson, respectively.
CLEAT, which boasts more than 22,500 members statewide, won’t back Cruz even after he made a pitch to their board this month, Executive Director Charley Wilkison said Thursday. In the past, CLEAT’s board has endorsed U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who is not up for re-election this year.
“They rewarded friends and people who came and talk to them and invested time and answered their questions,” Wilkison told The Dallas Morning News. “For them to sit things out, that shows that they were thinking about it and they had concerns that didn’t get answered.”
Wilkison said the board had concerns about some of Cruz’s policies early on, particularly on retirement benefits and government spending. But CLEAT also balked over O’Rourke’s criticisms of economic and criminal justice policies he says disenfranchise non-white Americans as the “new Jim Crow.”
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