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The campaign has turned less to one specific issue – the two align with all major Conservative political priorities – than to conflicting endorsements. Wright has the backing of Trump, while Ellzey has the backing of some prominent Texas Republicans with ties to the former president. And because Democrats were left out of that final round, Tuesday’s results won’t have an immediate impact on President Joe Biden’s agenda in Washington, where Democrats hold a narrow majority in the House.
Despite diminished domestic stakes, Trump has stepped up his involvement as the race reached its final stages, recording a late robocall for Wright who touts her as “strong on immigration” and promises that she “will lower your taxes and will cut even further than we ‘. did. ” Its super PAC, Make America Great Again Action, spent $ 100,000 as early voting ended and Election Day approached. And on Monday, Trump issued a new statement of support and participated in a virtual event for Wright’s campaign.
Wright also has backing from the Club for Growth, an anti-tax group, which has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to challenge Ellzey’s conservative credentials. Texas Senator Ted Cruz endorsed Wright in early May. New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump-favorite and third-ranked Republican in the United States House, was a booster.
Ellzey, a former pilot and decorated Navy veteran who lost a 2018 primary to Ron Wright, also has considerable GOP firepower on his side. He topped Susan Wright by more than 2 to 1 and has the backing of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Trump’s first energy secretary, and U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas, who recorded a video for the campaign in late June in response to a series of attacks he called “dishonest”, including the suggestion that Ellzey is a “Never Trumper”.
“This is not true. He has always supported President Trump, voted for him twice, supported him for a long time,” Crenshaw said. “They say that because he got a donation from someone who’s a ‘Never Trumper.’ He can’t control that. What is he supposed to do, just give back the money? “
Ellzey, who has avoided direct criticism of Wright, posted an ad earlier this month titled “Trump supporters love Jake Ellzey.” The nearly three-minute video features Trump voters in the 6th District talking about Ellzey and connecting him to Trump’s legacy – though it notably makes no mention of Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
Earlier this month, Ellzey joined Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a group of Republican House members from across the country and other GOP leaders on the Southern Border, where the former president has mixed criticism of his successor’s immigration policies with more false accusations about his defeat in the general election last year.
Early voting in the second round of the special elections began on July 19 and ended on Friday. On Thursday, the turnout – including early and postal votes – was just over 12,000. Polling stations close at 7 p.m. CT on Tuesday. The total for the first round, completed on May 1, was around 78,500. Wright won less than 20% of that vote. Ellzey finished with 13.85%.
While Trump’s popularity with Texas Republicans remains strong, the former president won the Republican-leaning 6th District by just 3 percentage points in 2020, down from 12 points four years earlier. Despite this sign of Democratic momentum in the district, the top Democratic candidate in May’s first ballot came third, missing the second round by less than 400 votes, ensuring the seat would remain in the hands of the GOP.
The winner, however, won’t have much time to get comfortable on Capitol Hill. The seat will be up for grabs again in next year’s midterm elections, with the primaries scheduled for March 1.
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