Cornyn releases TV ad meddling in Texas Democratic runoff

Sen. John Cornyn's campaign is launching a new TV ad Friday taking aim at one of his potential Democratic opponents, the latest in several steps his campaign has taken to meddle ahead of next week's Democratic primary runoff.

Cornyn's new TV ad launching Friday focuses on state Sen. Royce West, who is running against veteran MJ Hegar in the runoff after they finished in the top two spots in the March primary.

A narrator in the TV ad calls West a "liberal politician" and attacks him on abortion, guns and taxes, and also features his photo next to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Attacking West for being too liberal and tying him to those other Democrats could potentially boost him among Democratic base voters. On Thursday, Cornyn purchased $77,000 in airtime on three cable networks from Friday through Tuesday: BET, CNN and MSNBC, according to data from Advertising Analytics.

The move echoes other Republican efforts earlier this cycle, including in North Carolina, where a GOP super PAC funded by allies to Senate Republican leadership ran ads boosting a lesser-known challenger to national Democrats' preferred candidate.

Tuesday's Texas runoff is one of the final nominating contests for Senate Democrats and has been divisive in the closing stretch of the campaign. National Democrats have lined up behind Hegar, who narrowly lost a House race in 2018. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and EMILY's List both endorsed her, and EMILY's List's independent-expenditure arm is running TV ads boosting her image in the final days of the primary.

“With an abysmal approval rating and facing the toughest reelection of his political career, Sen. John Cornyn is so desperate to not run against decorated combat veteran and working mom MJ Hegar that he is meddling in the Democratic runoff election," said Amanda Sherman, a spokesperson for Hegar's campaign.

West, in a statement to POLITICO provided by his campaign, said he could not say who Cornyn wants to win or "why he is meddling in a Democratic primary."

"At this moment, I am focused on getting through Tuesday and winning this primary, and then moving on to make certain that we turn Texas blue," he said in the statement.

In a Facebook Live event earlier this week, before Cornyn's campaign announced the TV ad, West criticized Cornyn's previous ads but also brushed aside the potential impact it would have.

"Let it impact the election, I have no problem with it. If it impacts it in my favor, I'm grateful," he said in the virtual event. "I look forward to debating him on issues important to this country, and I'm the last person that frankly he wants to go up against this fall."

Hegar finished with 22 percent in the March primary compared to 15 percent for West, both falling well short of the majority of the vote needed to become the nominee. Hegar has consistently been the best-funded Democrat in the race, and had $1.6 million in the bank as of June 24 compared to just $160,000 for West.

Cornyn's campaign has booked at least $259,000 on TV over the next week, according to data from Advertising Analytics.

The new TV ad from Cornyn is the latest in several attempts to sway Democratic primary voters. His campaign aired a TV ad featuring West last year backed by much less money. They launched a radio ad this week criticizing both candidates, which also portrayed West as "consistently liberal." Earlier Thursday, Cornyn's campaign released a poll showing Hegar leading the runoff by a narrow margin.

Travis Considine, a spokesperson for Cornyn's campaign, defended getting involved in the Democratic race in a statement that largely echoed the attacks in the radio ad.

"Royce West has been one of the Texas' most liberal state senators for 30 years, whereas MJ Hegar has been a politician running for office for three years," Considine said. "Voters deserve to know where Royce West stands on important issues, and that MJ Hegar has developed a reputation for dodging questions, avoiding direct answers and being short on specifics."