Eye on Politics: Early voting numbers lag, Sen. Cruz sounds off on the midterms
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - ln the last episode of Eye on Politics that will air prior to the November midterms, Jack Fink breaks down the lagging early voting numbers in North Texas, talks to Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz about this election and 2024 and takes a look at the most competitive Congressional races in the state.
Every week, CBS 11 political reporter Jack Fink breaks down some of the biggest political stories grabbing headlines in North Texas and beyond. Watch the latest episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above and stream new episodes live every Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. on CBS News DFW.
Early voting numbers in North Texas
The number of people voting in the four largest counties in North Texas has plummeted from four years ago.
Some political analysts and campaigns predicted a record turnout for the midterm election this year, but early voting started slowly and it hasn't bounced back as some party leaders thought it would.
During the last midterm election in 2018, there were 1,226,924 who cast their ballots during the first ten days in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and Denton counties.
But this year, only 972,452 residents in those same four counties cast their ballots during the first ten days of early voting, a drop by 254,472.
Here's a breakdown of each county comparing the first ten of 12 early voting days of 2018 and 2022:
Political Battle for Tarrant County
Next Tuesday Democrats are hoping to turn Tarrant County blue, which is the largest Republican County in Texas and perhaps the nation. Republicans are fighting to keep it that way.
This week, Sen. Ted Cruz campaigned in Tarrant County to further that effort.
Watch the video below to learn more about Democrats' and Republicans' efforts in Tarrant County.
Democratic candidate for Texas Attorney General in McKinney
This week Democratic candidate for Texas Attorney Genera Rochelle Garza campaigned through North Texas for three days. Her tour included a stop in McKinney, which is home turf for two-term incumbent Republican Ken Paxton.
"We need to be here in Collin County. We need to talk to voters here," said Garza.
She spoke with supporters and candidates from Collin County outside the John and Judy Gay Public Library in McKinney. She also made a stop at the Texas Organizing Project in Dallas Tuesday.
Garza told members of the organization, "I'm from deep South Texas on the border. For me, politics started at home."
On the other side, Paxton has emphasized his lawsuits against the Biden administration and what he called the federal government's overreaching. He hasn't done interviews with Texas reporters about his campaign and has declined CBS 11's previous requests for an interview.
The attorney general faces state felony fraud charges first filed in 2015, and he's reportedly under FBI investigation after his office's former top lieutenants accused him of bribery. Paxton has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in both cases.
The four most recent polls show Garza trailing Paxton by an average of nine percentage points. Dr. Joshua Blank, Research Director of the Texas Politics Project at UT Austin said Garza faces similar challenges as other Democrats who are running statewide.
"I think polling shows she's made some pretty good progress but ultimately like all Democrats in Texas, it's a very big state, very expensive to campaign in, and it's really hard to break through."
The most competitive Congressional races in Texas
The most competitive Congressional races in the state this year are in South Texas, where Republicans are hoping to capture three seats: the 15th, 28th, and 34th Districts.
"They are very much competitive races," said Dr. Alvaro Corral, political science professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
In Texas' 28th Congressional District, nine-term Democratic incumbent Henry Cuellar is facing a challenge from Republican Cassy Garcia who recently served as Sen. Ted Cruz's Deputy State Director. Corral said this race is the safest of the three for Democrats at the moment, but it's still probably more competitive than Cuellar has faced in the past.
In Texas' 34th Congressional District, Republican Mayra Flores is competing with Republican Vicente Gonzalez for the seat. Flores just flipped the district in a June special election. Prior to that, the seat had been held by a Democrat.
In Texas' 15th Congressional District, Democrat Michelle Vallejo and Republican Monica De La Cruz are both vying for the seat.
"That's very much a kind of toss-up race," Corral said. "It's an open seat election."
Watch the full episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above to hear Corral break down these three races.
Sen. Ted Cruz on 2022 and 2024
While Sen. Cruz was in North Texas this week, Jack asked him why his visit to Tarrant County was so important.
"Tarrant County is an enormously important county in the state of Texas," he said. "It's the third largest county in Texas and Tim O'Hare is running for County Judge. He is a strong, principled conservative. I believe he's going to win on Election Day. And we're going to see Tim O'Hare as the strongest conservative in the country, leading a major metro area."
Sen. Cruz also weighed in on the competitive South Texas Congressional races in Districts 28, 34 and 15.
"You've got three districts in the Rio Grande, all of which historically have been Democrat for over a hundred years," he said. "I believe all three of those districts are going to elect Republicans in November and all three of those Republicans are Latinas."
Jack also asked Cruz about a possible presidential run in 2024 and whether he's decided to run or if he's waiting to see what former President Donald Trump will do.
"I don't know what Donald Trump's going to do. I don't think anybody does," he said. "Everyone in the country is waiting to see what he decides."
Sen. Cruz said he's been laser-focused on next week's election.
Don't forget to watch CBS News Dallas - Ft. Worth on election night. We'll be streaming all the results and have analysis with a great panel starting at 7:00 p.m.