The contest between retired combat Air Force pilot Mary 'MJ" Hegar of Central Texas and long-time State Senator Royce West of Dallas is the highest profile runoff election in Texas.
It’s something that I’ve never done.

As for the Cornyn donation, FEC records show Hegar made it via the VoteSane PAC on Aug. 2, 2011. When asked how he intends to do that, West said, “Can we have another interview next week, wait until next week, you’ll see.”, Asked if he will be receiving an endorsement, West replied, “Wait til next week.”, Hegar responded to the same question by saying, “I think it’s a huge mistake to look at groups of people as voting blocks. Both Hegar and West are staying positive and aren’t criticizing each other, only Senator John Cornyn. "Cornyn's interest in the Democratic primary tells you a lot about how worried he is about his re-election," Rahman said.

The gloves were off. The former helicopter pilot, who also ran for U.S. House in 2018 but was narrowly defeated, has raised more than $6.5 million according to the Center for Responsive Politics — three times more than West's estimated $1.7 million.

On Monday, Hegar sought to turn the 2016 vote into something of a selling point, noting Democrats "across the state have voted in Republican primaries because we're not used to having" competitive Democratic primaries. Where Biden and Trump stand on key issues defining the election. is running for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Texas. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. See the Fact Checker’s full rundown.

Texas, unlike many other states that have held elections during the public health crisis, did not expand access to mail-in ballots.

Polls in most of Texas closed at 7 p.m. Central Time and 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Cornyn's campaign loved the Democratic drama Monday night.

Not always. Polling shows that although Cornyn has been a senator since 2003 and before that Texas Attorney General and before that a state Supreme Court justice, he remains unfamiliar with many Texans. She lost her congressional race by just 3 percentage points to a long-serving Republican who had carried the district by 22 point two years before. ", However, Hegar then acknowledged donating to Cornyn — she said it was $25 instead of the $10 that records show — saying it was "because I couldn't get a meeting with him if I wasn't on his donor list.

“Now we know why Royce West is standing with left-wing politicians,” the narrator says. Hegar will face three-term GOP incumbent Cornyn, who has the largest war chest with $18.7 million raised and $12.8 million cash on hand. Hegar said she too has brought Democrats and Republicans together. She has received endorsements from Sens.

U.S. Senate candidates MJ Hegar and Royce West have less than 12 weeks to make their pitches to Democratic runoff voters about who can best take on Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in November. I went there to fight that and to make our military stronger,” she said. Contact your county elections office for more details about both options.

In general, polling locations will have guidelines in place for social distancing and regular cleaning. But some political analysts said despite the crowded field of candidates, they expected her to win more than the 22% of the vote she received. Additionally, you can confirm with your county elections office whether Election Day voting is restricted to locations in your designated precinct or if you can cast a ballot at any polling place.

Wall had broken state records in self-funding — a total of $8.3 million — to support her campaign, according to the Houston Chronicle. ", The debate was largely uneventful before the candidates got to ask each other questions. Perhaps it goes without saying — but producing quality journalism isn't cheap. She then attacked Royce for playing a role in the "broken system"  by implying he became a millionaire while in office. When asked about the analysts who were underwhelmed by her performance Hegar said, “You know frankly as the outsider, the person who is not holding political office, I think that we had four people in the primary who had run statewide. The crowded field ultimately narrowed to county sheriff Troy Nehls and longtime Republican donor Kathaleen Wall. Electoral college map: Who actually votes, and who do they vote for?


“Women’s rights, issues concerning minimum wages, issues concerning climate change, those types of issues I still talk about.”.

Before Hurd, who is considered a moderate in today’s Republican Party, stepped aside, he was being challenged from the right by retired Air Force Col. Raul Reyes. At a time when newsroom resources and revenue across the country are declining, The Texas Tribune remains committed to sustaining our mission: creating a more engaged and informed Texas with every story we cover, every event we convene and every newsletter we send. Democratic U.S. Senate candidates MJ Hegar and State Sen. Royce West face off at KVUE’s Democratic U.S. Senate Primary debate on June 29, 2020. Nehls will run against Democrat Sri Preston Kulkarni, who is hoping to flip the GOP seat after losing to Olson in 2018 by just five points. Millions of dollars have already poured into that race, both to the candidate coffers and from outside groups eager to oust Collins, sparked in part by her vote to confirm Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Pete Sessions, who had been in the House for 22 years before losing in the Democratic wave of 2018, won the chance to compete to return to Congress. West, on the other hand, has backing from local leaders in the state legislature, where he has represented Dallas for 27 years.

"I’m done with it, I’m tired of it, and so is Texas.".

Jackson got Trump’s endorsement but trailed agriculture lobbyist Josh Winegarner in the March primary, triggering a runoff. On the same day, Hegar also earmarked $10 donations through the PAC for four other politicians: Texas' other GOP U.S. senator at the time, Kay Bailey Hutchison; U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-California; U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California; and U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock. Connect with friends faster than ever with the new Facebook app. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2020.She advanced from the Democratic primary runoff on July 14, 2020.

Some states have already started sending out mail ballots; see how to make sure yours counts. Early voting totals show the runoff pulling in about half as many voters as the March Democratic primary. “As a working mom who’s lived many of the challenges facing working families across the state, I’m so proud to lead the effort to take back our state from politicians like John Cornyn who are more D.C. than Texas,” Hegar said in a statement celebrating her victory. It was not immediately clear why Hegar made the donations via the PAC instead of giving directly to the candidates. The incumbent's camp backed away from its first nickname for West, "Restful Royce," after Democrats said it harkened back to the Jim Crow-era stereotype that Blacks were lazy. Coming up: Trump and Biden are scheduled to debate three times this fall; here’s what to know about the 2020 presidential debates. David Martin Davies. The winner will face GOP U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. The US Supreme Court also denied the Texas Democratic Party's initial request in court to grant expanded access to the state's more than 16 million registered voters, a decision which President Donald Trump celebrated. since. You can find eligibility requirements and review other questions about voting by mail here. No Democrat has won a statewide election since 1994, though political analysts argue the field in Texas has shifted toward more purple territory in recent years. I think more people voted for me because they are really tired of politics as usual.

West added that if Hegar donated to Cornyn, Democrats deserve to know "how will he use that against you if you are" the nominee. She said she went to Congress as a private citizen to keep the Trump Administration from making a change that would have impacted the military. How to vote: Find out the rules in your state. Explore how shifts in turnout and voting patterns for key demographic groups could affect the presidential race. Battlegrounds: Want to understand the swing states? © 2020 www.caller.com. Have you run into hurdles or problems while trying to vote in Texas?

Tags: Election, Election results, Royce West, John Cornyn, U.S. Senate, Vote 2020, Mary "MJ" Hegar.

"Make no mistake about it, she is alleging Royce West broke the law and now it’s on her to prove it. But you’ve got to recognize in some of those areas, we had a lot of new voters, if you will that don’t know what I have done as a State Senator. If elected, he will become the first Black senator to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate.

Subscriber Cornyn chose "Hollywood Hegar" for her endorsement from celebrities such as Natalie Portman and Lin-Manuel Miranda of "Hamilton fame, and "Radical Royce," based on the lawmaker's left-of-center voting record in Austin. Democrats Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala D. Harris hold a steady lead over President Trump and Vice President Pence, with an edge of 53 percent to 43 percent among registered voters, according to the latest Post-ABC News poll. But the Cornyn donation is a new line of attack. Commonly asked questions about voting in the state. "To suggest we ignore cases or turn a blind eye is an ABSOLUTE LIE," Nehls wrote in a Facebook post. As of Tuesday, Texas reported nearly 275,000 cases and 3,331 deaths from the virus with a seven-day average of 9,195 new confirmed cases and 84 deaths per day, according to The New York Times. The deadline to register to vote in the 2020 general election is Oct. 5. "Ah, now we get the real MJ Hegar out," West replied. West, a state senator from Dallas, asked Hegar why "there was a record of you contributing" to Cornyn in 2011 and and about her participation in the 2016 Republican primary. Texas voters are picking nominees for several U.S. congressional races in Tuesday's runoff elections as the state battles a rampant surge in coronavirus cases. While Hegar and West have traded a few subtle jabs, there had not been much direct conflict until now. Goudeau told Hegar the question referred to her runoff opponent, not Cornyn. Long-simmering grievances boiled over Monday in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. Senate as Royce West and MJ Hegar sparred bitterly in their latest debate. David Martin Davies can be reached at dmdavies@tpr.org and on Twitter at @DavidMartinDavi TPR was founded by and is supported by our community.

When the dust settled, Hegar lamented that she thought "John Cornyn's the person who won tonight.". The Washington Post wants to hear from you. "Commitment," Hegar replied. The tense exchanges between the two Democrats marked a clear turning point in the race to take on Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

"You just haven't been there.".