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Air Force Vet MJ Hegar Wins Texas Senate Democratic Primary To Face John Cornyn
MJ Hegar narrowly won the Democratic Senate nomination to take on Republican incumbent John Cornyn in November after holding off a late charge from state Sen. Royce West in Texas’ primary on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.
Hegar, a former Air Force pilot, had the support of her party’s establishment groups, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and EMILY’s List, which helped boost her campaign to challenge Cornyn with TV and radio advertising.
But she faced a duel threat from West, who received notable endorsements from a host of Black political figures, and Cornyn himself, whose meddling in the Democratic primary clearly signaled his preference not to face Hegar in November’s general election.
“I am humbled by the support we have received from all across the state, and am confident we have a decisive victory,” Hegar said in a statement late Tuesday. “Together, we are mounting a Texas-sized winning campaign that will take down Sen. Cornyn and deliver real results on health care, racial justice, economic opportunity, climate change, immigration and gun violence.”
West, who is Black, gained endorsements from House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.). He also won the support of Benjamin Crump, the attorney who represents the families of George Floyd and other Black victims of police violence.
West’s campaign recently aired a TV ad that urged voters to pick a “real Democrat” in the runoff, questioning Hegar’s credentials by highlighting her vote in Texas’s 2016 GOP primary. She said she voted for Carly Fiorina for president at the time as a protest vote against Donald Trump.
Cornyn’s campaign sought to capitalize on the intra-party clash by airing ads boosting West over Hegar, who as a Democrat came close to defeating a Republican House member in 2018. The ads called West, 67, a “liberal politician” who supported abortion rights and gun control ― positions that...
