Bernie Sanders aims to increase progressive turnout in Texas midterm swing

Sign up for The Brief, our day by day e-newsletter that retains readers up to velocity on probably the most important Texas news.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., toured Texas this weekend trying to energize progressive voters with days to go till the midterm election, together with in a key congressional race in South Texas.

The two-time Democratic presidential candidate visited Central Texas on Saturday after which headed south Sunday to the Rio Grande Valley, the place he held a rally with Michelle Vallejo, who’s working for the fifteenth Congressional District. It is an open seat that Republicans are keen to flip — and one the place nationwide Democrats have declined to go all in, sparking frustration contained in the occasion.

“The vote right here in this district could determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives, and I think the choice is clear,” Sanders stated on the McAllen rally with Vallejo. “The choice is whether we give more tax breaks to billionaires and cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education and other needed programs — or whether we stand up for the working class of this country. Michelle Vallejo is on the right side.”

Republicans are concentrating on the fifteenth District and two others in South Texas, hoping to capitalize on President Joe Biden’s underperformance there in 2020 and make new inroads with Hispanic voters. Vallejo narrowly defeated a extra reasonable Democrat in the first runoff and now faces Republican Monica De La Cruz, who ran a surprisingly shut race in the fifteenth District in 2020, prior to redistricting.

Sanders’ go to to Texas happened midway by means of the early voting interval — and it got here eight days after former President Donald Trump made his personal go to to South Texas, hoping to juice turnout for the congressional races. De La Cruz, who has Trump’s endorsement, didn’t attend the rally, as a substitute addressing the gang by means of a quick video message.

Some outstanding in-state Democrats have been upset with nationwide outdoors teams who haven’t finished any critical TV spending in the fifteenth District, as a substitute prioritizing the 2 different South Texas districts. That has left Vallejo to run as a decisive underdog in a district that Republicans already redrew to be extra favorable to them.

“No matter what people outside of South Texas want to think or claim that we don’t have this win,” Vallejo stated on the rally, “I know that we are on our path to victory, and we’re gonna win this race on Nov. 8.”

In her speech, Vallejo continued to embrace Sanders’ signature proposal — the single-payer well being care mannequin often known as Medicare for All — saying she is “running to fight for Medicare for All because our families should not be forced to go to Mexico to get the medical care they deserve.” And Vallejo knocked De La Cruz as an “extremist,” who, amongst different issues, needs to ban abortion with out exceptions for rape or incest. De La Cruz has stated she helps abortion “only to save the life of the mother.”

Prior to the Sanders rally, De La Cruz had stated she welcomed him campaigning with Vallejo “because it clarifies the choice in this election.”

“Growing up, my abuelita always told me: ‘Dime con quién andas, y te diré quién eres,’ ” De La Cruz stated in a press release after the rally. “By campaigning with the most extreme member of the Senate, my socialist opponent has told South Texans exactly who she is and why she is unfit to represent us in Washington.”

Vallejo was joined on the McAllen rally by two different Sanders allies: Greg Casar, a former Austin City Council member who is probably going headed to Congress in January from a Central Texas district, in addition to Jessica Cisneros, the previous two-time main challenger to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.

On Saturday, Sanders campaigned in San Marcos and Austin with Casar, whose November race isn’t aggressive. After he took the stage in San Marcos, Sanders predicted Casar is “going to be one of the outstanding political leaders in this country.”

Sanders is on an eight-state tour to end up progressive voters, lately telling The New York Times that he’s “a little bit concerned that the energy level for young people, working-class people” is flagging. He held the San Marcos cease at Texas State University.

“The truth is that a midterm election is not as sexy as a presidential election,” Sanders stated in San Marcos, telling attendees to inform their mates they’re “dead wrong” if they don’t assume their vote issues proper now.

In the night, they rallied with native labor leaders in the parking zone of the state Democratic Party headquarters in Austin.

Sanders stated the midterms had been an election in which the nation’s future was on the poll and he blamed right-wing extremists for the threats to democracy. He broadly endorsed Democratic leaders in Texas and inspired folks to vote, however he didn’t particularly endorse any statewide candidates.

Democrat Beto O’Rourke is difficult Gov. Greg Abbott in the marquee statewide contest. O’Rourke spent the weekend stumping in the Houston space.

William Melhado contributed reporting.

Disclosure: New York Times has been a monetary supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news group that’s funded in half by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Financial supporters play no function in the Tribune’s journalism. Find an entire list of them here.