Cornyn: Texas is no longer a ‘reliably red state’

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Tuesday that his home state is no longer “reliably red” and on the verge of becoming a swing state.

“Texas is no longer, I believe, a reliably red state,” Cornyn said on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show.  “We are on the precipice of turning purple, and we’ve got a lot of work to do to keep it red, because we lost, we got blown out in the urban areas. We got beat in the suburbs, which used to be our traditional strongholds.”

{mosads}Cornyn added that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) might not have been victorious over his Democratic challenger, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, during this month’s midterm elections without support in rural areas.

Hewitt noted that while Cornyn is up for reelection in 2020, he probably won’t face a Senate challenge from O’Rourke.

The El Paso representative signaled on Monday that he hasn’t ruled out a 2020 presidential run. 

Cornyn said O’Rourke lost in the Lone Star State because he is a “national Democrat.”

“Texas is still a conservative state. And even though it is trending more purple than red, and that’s something we have to pay attention to, and I intend to in 2020, but I think Beto’s got stars in his eyes, and he’s going to go for the big one,” Cornyn said.

O’Rourke lost to Cruz in a surprisingly close race earlier this month but his defeat sparked widespread calls among Democrats for him to challenge President Trump.

The progressive star has earned the praise of former President Obama, who called O’Rourke an “impressive young man.”

If O’Rourke decides to enter the ring of 2020 Democratic contenders, he could face off in a primary challenge against possible candidates like former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).