Unofficially, at least. According to media reports, Rep Joaquin Castro will not run for the Texas Senate
seat currently held by Ted Cruz, who is up for reelection next year.
This is good news for Cruz. Castro is in
general far more well-known and respected in Texas, both within the Democratic
Party and among the broader electorate, than Beto O’Rourke, the congressman who
has already announced a challenge to Cruz. Castro also has a reputation for
being more moderate in style and an independent thinker (not that this should
be mistaken for actual political moderation), which would serve him well in a
run for statewide office, and is seen as a rising star in the national party,
which would have given him greater support from outside the state than O’Rourke
can likely expect.
O’Rourke is certainly not a challenger
to take lightly, as I wrote previously. But he has established himself as a fairly generic
liberal Democrat in Congress, will have to work hard just to increase his name
recognition, cannot count on a massive influx of out-of-state donations and
support for his bid that Cruz can and Castro likely could have, and—as a white
male—will not generate the same sort of enthusiasm from some on the identity
politics-obsessed Left.
Ted Cruz will still have to worry about
many things between now and next November—O’Rourke’s challenge in the general
election, the national political climate, and the potential of a primary
challenge from the party establishment chief among them. But with Castro
passing on the race, Cruz’s life has been made a little easier.
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