Could Republican Voters Make The Difference In Democratic Race?
Silvestre Reyes, the current congressman for District 16 in Texas, and his main competitors Beto O’Rourke use numerous volunteers to attract voters in the highly contest race for El Paso’s Congressional seat.
On Thursday a cold call was made by a man identifying himself as Bill Sanders, the El Paso millionaire who happens to be O’Rourke’s father-in-law, urging an ABC-7 employee who has voted in Republican and Democratic primaries in the past, to vote for O’Rourke as it was the best way for Republicans to get rid of Reyes.
When asked about the calls on Friday, the last day of early voting in El Paso County, O’Rourke simply said he has numerous volunteers that make phone calls. Pressed on whether he specifically targeted Republican voters, he skirted using the word but did say, “we’re calling everyone we can and telling them change is important after 16 years of status quo.”
The method isn’t unusual. Voters can choose to vote in Democratic or Republican primaries regardless of party line, but O’Rourke said his biggest issues don’t fall on either side of the aisle. O’Rourke is adamant that putting El Paso first is all that matters.
“I think the big problem with Congress today is you have people that put their party and their career ahead of their country and their community,” said O’Rourke.
Reyes saw the issue differently. The incumbent congressman who has served El Paso for 16 years said O’Rourke is a Republican in disguise.
“He has labeled himself a progressive and represents himself as a Democrat,” said Reyes. “He’s taken Republican talking points and is taking Republican positions.”
If O’Rourke is counting on Republicans to help him overtake Reyes in the primary election next Tuesday, he could get some help from redistricting that took place earlier this year.
When the state of Texas rewrote districting lines 12 precincts switched from District 16 to District 23. According to the El Paso County elections website, six of those precincts voted above the average rate where Reyes received votes in the 2010 primary election.
Reyes said he feels confident the redistricting won’t affect him negatively. O’Rourke also felt the subtraction of precincts both men previously campaigned in wouldn’t be an issue, but El Paso County elections administrator Javier Chacon said that if a candidate is looking for Democratic votes it could make a difference.
“Typically that part of the county isn’t Republican, it’s Democrat,” said Chacon. “When you lose some of those Democrat voters it could affect any raise that used to have those districts involved.”
