Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign said Friday it started airing its first campaign commercial of the 2018 midterm elections highlighting the Texas Republican’s response to Hurricane Harvey.
The announcement comes on the heels of polls that show Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who has raised more money than Mr. Cruz, has cut the incumbent’s lead to single digits.
“When disaster struck Texans came together, helping each other, everyone doing their part — like Ted Cruz who brought home billions in disaster relief and passed emergency tax relief for those hit by Hurricane Harvey,” the narrator says in the “Harvey” ad, which is set to run in southeast Texas.
The Texas Tribune reported the Cruz campaign also released an attack ad, not mentioned in the press release, that is set to run in Lubbock and casts Mr. O’Rourke as weak on drugs.
“Beto O’Rourke said we should consider legalizing all narcotics, including heroin — that would be destructive to our communities and families, ” a narrator says, according to the Texas Tribune. “Texas needs a senator who’ll lead the fight against drug abuse, and help those in need get back to work.”
The ad alludes to 2009 when Mr. O’Rourke called for an “open, honest, national dialogue on ending the prohibition of narcotics” as a member of the El Paso City Council, according to the Texas Tribune.
The positive “Harvey” ad also features a television clip of Galveston County Judge Mark Henry saying, “No official, state or federal, has been more involved in the recovery of Galveston County than Sen. Ted Cruz.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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