He's right. TX is at risk for turning purple, and perhaps even blue. The demographics of TX have changed and remaining 'red' is no longer a sure thing; that was evidenced by the Cruz/Beto senate race.
John Cornyn has never lost an election. He's trying to convince Texas Republicans that his streak is in jeopardy in 2020.It may not be his own doing. After all, it should be counterintuitive to describe the most powerful Texan to serve in the U.S. Senate since Lyndon Johnson as a shrinking violet.
But Cornyn is an outlier within a generation of larger-than-life Texas politicians who have become national fixtures for smiling in mugshots, blowing up their own party’s national conventions in a hail of jeers, livestreaming road trips, bragging about snuffing out a coyote while jogging, or filibustering while wearing pink sneakers or reading Dr. Seuss.
It seems like flamboyance and ambition for higher office are historical prerequisites for any Texan serving in an office as high profile as the U.S. Senate.
“I’m none of those things,†Cornyn laughed in a recent interview.
There is no ghostwritten Cornyn memoir. His ego does not seem to live and die on how many times he appears on Sunday morning talk shows. And he’s never launched a presidential bid, exploratory campaign or even a vice presidential lobbying effort.
“I haven’t run for president,†he said. “My wife told me if I decided to run for president, I needed to get a new wife. And I’ve been married 39 years, and I’m not going to go down that path.â€
It is that understated quality — what some observers describe as “boring,†“vanilla†and “not Ted Cruz†— that lends so much uncertainty to his 2020 reelection campaign.
But Cornyn's calmness may also prove to be his greatest asset amid potential Texas political tumult. He is the de facto leader of state Republicans this cycle, with his name set to appear on the 2020 ballot below only the presidential contest.
And from this perch, Cornyn, despite his usually steady manner, is cranking the alarm as loudly as he can to his fellow Texas Republicans.
“We are, I think, no longer the reliably red state we have been,†he said. “We are at risk of turning purple. And if we don’t do our job, then we could turn blue in the coming years. “
https://www.texastribune.org/2019/06/19/john-cornyn-no-ted-cruz-does-he-face-tough-texas-re-election/
